Brooklyn Man Naji Charged in ISIL Support Plot

A 37-year-old Brooklyn man, Mohamed Rafik Naji, was arrested today and charged with attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), federal prosecutors announced. The criminal complaint, unsealed in the Eastern District of New York, details Naji’s persistent efforts to join the terrorist group, including a 2015 trip to Yemen and repeated online declarations of allegiance.

Naji, a legal permanent resident of the United States, began expressing support for ISIL as early as December 2014 through social media. He shared violent propaganda, including a video of an ISIL leader calling for attacks on civilians. By March 2015, Naji had traveled from New York to Yemen in a direct attempt to reach ISIL-controlled territory. According to the complaint, he told an associate he was on his fifth attempt to cross into jihadist zones and claimed to have narrowly survived gunfire from military forces.

While in Yemen, Naji communicated with a confidential source, instructing them to travel to Hadramout in southern Yemen to join ‘dawlat islam.’ He declared, ‘I belong to Islamic state only,’ during one online exchange. He also warned his U.S.-based contact to ‘erase all ur messages,’ including from the trash, in an apparent effort to cover his digital trail.

Naji returned to the United States in September 2015 but did not abandon his extremist views. After the July 2016 terrorist attack in Nice, France, he voiced support for carrying out a similar vehicle-ramming assault in Times Square. His continued advocacy for violent jihad formed a key part of the government’s case.

‘As alleged, the defendant was persistent in his efforts to join ISIL and support its terrorist objectives,’ said U.S. Attorney Robert L. Capers. ‘We will continue to identify and prosecute individuals like Naji who seek to empower our nation’s enemies and endanger our citizens and partners around the world.’ Capers credited the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force for its role in the investigation.

The charges are merely allegations; Mohamed Rafik Naji is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law. His initial appearance is scheduled before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert M. Levy at the Brooklyn federal courthouse. The case underscores the ongoing threat of homegrown extremism and the reach of federal counterterrorism efforts into radicalized individuals within U.S. borders.