While it is bad enough to have ISIS slaughtering people in the Middle East, some sick and misguided American citizens have taken up the call of Jihad and want to kill people in the US. This became painfully clear as the FBI just disrupted a conspiracy to kill at least 100 soldiers at an Illinois military base.
FBI agents arrested an Illinois Army National Guard specialist as he was about to fly to Libya to join ISIS. In addition, they arrested his cousin at his home after he had taken the Guardsman to the Chicago airport. Authorities charged both Hasan Rasheed Edmonds and Jonas Marcel Edmonds with conspiracy for their support of a terrorist organization.
Hasan Edmonds planned to use his military training to fight for ISIS, while Jonas Edmonds was planning a deadly attack on a military basis hoping to kill scores of soldiers. Fortunately, both men had previously drawn the attention of the FBI and were apprehended long before their wicked plot took shape.
Social media has been a boon for investigators. When an undercover agent made contact with Hasan Edmonds on Facebook, he told the agent that he wanted to go to Dawlah—a term frequently used to refer to the Islamic State. Edmonds stated that he hoped for martyrdom there.
The FBI had email contact with his cousin Jonas Edmonds. Edmonds claimed that he wanted to move his family to Mosul, Iraq, but that if his felony conviction prevented him from getting a passport that he would wage war from within.
Jonas Edmonds planned to purchase grenades and assault rifles to attack the facility and kill a large number of people. He anticipated help from his cousin who would provide a military uniform and a list of officers to kill. Both cousins had visited the military facility with an undercover agent posing as a potential terrorist and participant in the plot.
Through their proactive undercover activities, these FBI agents prevented what could have been a horrific and tragic slaughter of the brave men and women that serve our country.