NEW JERSEY
Law enforcement today arrested a 20-year-old man who allegedly supported ISIS, professed his hatred toward the United States and want to form a small army that would include some of his friends, officials said.
Nader Saadeh, a former resident of Bergen County, New Jersey, was charged with allegedly conspiring and attempting to provide support for the terrorist group, ISIS, according to authorities.
If convicted, Saadeh is facing up to 20 years in prison on each criminal count, officials said.
According to documents filed in this case, this is what is alleged:
The FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force started investigating a group of individuals from New York and New Jersey who allegedly conspired to support to ISIS.
Nader Saadeh lived in Rutherford until leaving the country on May 5, 2015, allegedly to join ISIS.
Nader Saadeh’s brother, Alaa Saadeh, was a resident of West New York, New Jersey, until he was arrested on June 29. He was charged with conspiring to provide material support to ISIL, aiding and abetting an attempt to provide material support to ISIS and witness tampering.
Samuel Rahamin Topaz was a resident of Fort Lee, New Jersey, until he was arrested on June 17, and charged with conspiring to provide material support to ISIS.
A man identified by federal agents as “Conspirator 1” was a Queens, New York, resident until he was arrested in New York on June 13 on terrorism charges.
Between 2012 and 2013, Nader Saadeh sent Conspirator 1 an electronic messages expressing his hatred for the United States and desire to form a small army that would include their friends.
On July 1, 2014, the day ISIS’s leader declared an Islamic caliphate in Syria and Iraq, Nader Saadeh posted images of ISIS’s flag and the flag of the Islamic caliphate on his Facebook page.
According to an informant who was close to him for years, by April 2015, Nader Saadeh had become a radicalized supporter of ISIS who was preparing to travel overseas with other individuals.
In addition, Nader Saadeh allegedly said that ISIS’s execution of a captured Jordanian Air Force pilot by burning him alive and the murders of several staff members of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris earlier this year were justified.
During the investigation, the FBI obtained computer files showing that Nader Saadeh viewed ISIS propaganda videos and researched the availability of flights to Turkey, which borders Syria, where ISIS claims to control territory.
The FBI also obtained electronic messages sent to Nader Saadeh on April 21, by family members living overseas, including his mother, who pleaded for him not to join ISIL.
On May 5, 2015, Nader Saadeh traveled overseas via John F. Kennedy International Airport, allegedly in order to join ISIS.
On his way to the airport, while accompanied by Alaa Saadeh and Conspirator 1, he said that he, Alaa Saadeh, Conspirator 1 and Topaz had plans to reunite overseas within a few weeks.
On the day of his arrest, Topaz told the FBI that he agreed with Nader Saadeh, Conspirator 1 and Alaa Saadeh to travel to join ISIS.
In addition, Alaa Saadeh told the FBI in a post-arrest interview that he, Nader Saadeh and Topaz all watched ISIS propaganda videos together and discussed going overseas to join ISIS.
Alaa Saadeh also stated that the night before Nader Saadeh left for Jordan, Conspirator 1 provided Nader Saadeh with the name and number of an ISIS contact near the Turkey/Syria border who would facilitate his travel to ISIS-controlled territory.
(TV News Report on June 29, 2015 on the Arrest of Nader Saadeh’s brother Alaa Saadeh)