A New Jersey man is facing a terrorism charge after he attempted to provide material support for the Islamist militant group al Shabaab in Somalia, federal prosecutors announced Friday.
The man, 23-year-old Karrem Nasr, was allegedly motivated by the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel and had “devoted himself to waging violent jihad against America and its allies,” according to the Department of Florida. Nasr was arrested in Kenya on Dec. 14 but was extradited to the United States on Thursday.
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“Nasr was prepared to kill and be killed to support the jihadist cause, and in his own words, he described America as ‘evil’ and the ‘head of the snake,’” U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said in a statement. “Thanks to the extraordinary efforts of the career prosecutors in my Office and our law enforcement partners who led the investigation, Nasr’s plan to train with a terrorist organization and wage violent jihad has been disrupted.”
Prosecutors claimed Nasr was hoping to join and train with al Shabaab militants. Nasr reportedly moved to Egypt in the summer before he traveled to Kenya to join the militants. He had also planned to travel with them from Kenya to Somalia but was arrested before he could.
The Justice Department was made aware of Nasr through a confidential source, who flagged social media posts that Nasr made on X, formerly known as Twitter. In one post, Nasr said he aspired to be a martyr and vowed to bring a “jihad on home turf.”
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“You may have F35s and nuclear weapons, and we may only have IEDs and small arms,” Nasr said in one post, according to the DOJ. “But we fight for god, your fight for your oppressive, materialistic geopolitical agenda.”
Nasr, who is from Lawrenceville, New Jersey, has been charged with one count of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years.
