18-year-old planned terror attack on Israeli consulate in New York: FBI

FBI agents arrested a Virginia college student, who they said was plotting a terrorist attack on Israel’s consulate in New York City. As reported on Thursday, Dec. 19, the agency said that 18-year-old Abdullah Hassan, a freshman at George Mason University, told an undercover informant about his plan to pull off a mass casualty attack.

Authorities said Hassan sent an Islamic State-themed video promoting the killing of Jewish people to someone claiming to be a terrorist sympathizer. However, the person Hassan sent it to was an undercover agent.

The FBI said Hassan shared several plans for the attack to the undercover agent. Some plans included using a high-powered rifle, a suicide vest or a backpack stuffed with a homemade bomb.

The informant said Hassan sent him a detailed video on how to make a bomb. He also told the informant he wanted to attack the Israeli consulate in New York. Hassan allegedly described the consulate as a “goldmine of targets.”

The FBI claimed Hassan praised 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden on his X account. They also said he shared antisemitic and terrorist propaganda online.

FBI agents previously interviewed Hassan in 2022 after they said he shared Islamic State propaganda online. However, the agency did not file charges in that incident.

Hassan now faces a charge related to showing the FBI informant how to make a bomb with intent to “murder internationally protected persons.” That charge carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison alone. However, prosecutors may reportedly add more charges.

George Mason University banned Hassan from campus after these charges were made public. Hassan is an Egyptian national and is currently detained while he undergoes the deportation process. The FBI investigation is expected to delay that process.

George Mason University also faced criticism over a separate incident. Recently, a pair of sisters, one current and former president of a pro-Palestinian group on campus, were banned from campus for four years after police searched their family’s home last month.

Investigators said they found relatives’ guns, ammunition and a symbol calling for death to Jewish people.

Campus police called the ban a safety precaution. However, a coalition of organizations representing students condemned the move. The groups argued the ban effectively expels the sisters from the university because they are unable to attend classes on campus.

The coalition also noted the decision was apparently made without due process.