South Carolina man supported ISIS, planned ‘Netflix worthy’ attack on US, feds say
An Elgin, South Carolina man allegedly planned attacks on American soil, and wanted to carry out violence on behalf of ISIS, a federal affidavit shows.
Kristopher Sean Matthews, who also went by the alias “Ali Jibreel,” communicated and conspired with other ISIS supporters over a period of months, including a Texas man named Jaylyn Christopher Molina, according to the documents from the US District Court for the Western District of Texas in San Antonio.
Matthews and Molina remain in custody, accused of “conspiring to provide material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization,” according to the documents.
The charge carries a possible 20 year prison sentence.
Authorities arrested both men Monday, KSAT reported.
The FBI used online covert employees and confidential sources to track Matthew and Molina, according to the affidavit.
An FBI investigator recounts conversations between Matthews and others in a secretive chat group wherein they profess their loyalty to ISIS, their hate for the United States and western nations, and their desire to support the extremist terrorist group however they can.
Additionally, they traded information about guns, and how-to guides on bomb-making.
“We need to stick together, we need to defeat them, we need to take a lot of casualties,” Molina, who went by the alias “Abdur Rahim,” said as the two men discussed plans to kill, and to send a message in doing so.
Matthews suggested it would be best to attack government centers, instead of places “like malls where innocent children are.”
Potential targets included Trump Tower in New York, the stock exchange, and several others.
They discussed how many men they would need, setting traps, if bombs could be used and where to place them.
If they pulled off the kind of attack they were hoping to, it would mean “rock star status baby,” Matthews said. “This could be Netflix worthy.”
Besides attacks on the US, Matthews and Molina talked extensively about traveling overseas to join ISIS in Syria, the affidavit says.
As recently as Aug. 25, Molina was also in contact with a woman in an unnamed European country who was requesting bomb-making instructions.
