2 US Islamic State Supporters Arrested In June on Terrorism Charges
ISIS Remains a Persistent Threat
(GCV has permission to reprint this article from
Long War Journal)Over the past month, US law enforcement authorities arrested two Americans on terrorism charges, including charging one individual with “attempting to provide material support to [the Islamic State].”
On June 24, law enforcement arrested Ammaad Akhtar, 33, of Stockton, California, for attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. Court documents cited by a US Justice Department release allege that Akhtar began communicating with someone he believed was a member of the Islamic State in February 2025. During these conversations, Akhtar expressed his support for the terrorist group and a desire to fight alongside them overseas.
In April, Akhtar allegedly started giving financial help to someone who worked with law enforcement, thinking this person would buy guns for IS, according to the Justice Department release. He also allegedly wanted to target a specific individual and asked for instructions on how to build a homemade explosive to attack a public place. In June, Akhtar met with an undercover law enforcement officer and gave them money, two loaded guns, ammunition, and pledged bayat to the Islamic State, the release states.
Two weeks before Akhtar’s arrest, on June 9, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division arrested and charged Daniel Fox Fischer, 17, of Conway, South Carolina, with “threatening or conspiring to threaten real or personal property using a destructive device, and possessing or using a weapon of mass destruction for an act of terrorism.” Fischer is currently being held in a juvenile facility.
According to the arrest warrant, between April 2024 and August 2024, Fischer communicated his intention to join IS and took proactive steps to gain technical expertise for carrying out an attack. Specifically, Fischer obtained information on remote-controlled improvised explosive devices (RCIED) and recipes for making explosive materials using C4. FBI agents also found images of him wearing a likely suicide vest and expressing his support for the Islamic State.
Relatedly, on June 13, Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, a citizen of Afghanistan, pled guilty in federal court in Oklahoma City to conspiring to provide support to IS and attempting to receive firearms and ammunition in furtherance of terrorism. Tawhedi admitted that between June 2024 and October 2024, he conspired with Abdullah Haji Zada to conduct an election-day mass casualty attack on behalf of the Islamic State. Tawhedi faces 20 years in prison for providing material support and 15 years for the firearms charge. Zada, his co-conspirator, pled guilty on April 17 and is still awaiting sentencing.
Akhtar and Fischer’s arrests marked the fifth and sixth individuals arrested for terrorism and their involvement with the Islamic State this year. These recent arrests and two separate guilty pleas over a planned mass-casualty attack on election day indicate the continued threat the jihadist group poses to the US and its interests abroad.
Wonder how many got away? We will not be able to arrest our way out of this mess.
It will never go away completely; all religions, at some time, have propagated, or inspired believers to commit violence. Until it is accepted, any belief not founded on rational evidence, MUST be a private matter to manage the follower's own lifestyle (hopefully to improve it) there will remain this possibility. We know a secular, tolerant, democratic society, based on the "Golden Rule" though never be perfect, gives us our best chance of living harmoniously in our complex world.