Yemen-born New York Muslim indicted for recruiting for ISIS and plotting to kill US military members returning from war

(Fox News) Federal authorities have accused an upstate New York man of attempting to aid and recruit fighters for the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq.

Mufid Elfgeeh, 30, of Rochester, was indicted by a federal grand jury on three counts of attempting to provide material support and resources to the group widely known as ISIS that has been designated by the U.S. as a foreign terrorist organization, federal prosecutors said Tuesday. Elfgeeh, who was born in Yemen and is a naturalized U.S. citizen, is one of the first people accused by the U.S. of recruiting on behalf of ISIS.

According to court documents seen by the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, Elfgeeh tried to raise money to enable a Yemeni man to join ISIS. At one point, Elfgeeh allegedly sent the man $600 to travel from Yemen to Syria. An FBI affidavit alleges that this past April, Elfgeeh traveled to Buffalo with an FBI informant to get a passport for the latter man. Elfgeeh suggested that ISIS would use the informant to "operate a cannon, act as a sniper and/or build bombs," the document claims.

Elfgeeh was arrested this past May in the parking lot of a local Wal-Mart after taking delivery of two handguns equipped with silencers and ammunition. Elfgeeh had allegedly given the informant $1,050 in cash to purchase the handguns, which had been rendered inoperable. Federal authorities said he bought the weapons as part of a plan to kill members of the U.S. armed forces returning from war, as well as Shiites in the Rochester area.

Prosecutors said two of the three individuals Elfgeeh had contact with were cooperating with the FBI.

"Disrupting and holding accountable those who seek to provide material support to foreign terrorist organizations is and shall remain a critical national security priority," said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Carlin.

The investigation included linking Elfgeeh's home computer to tweets from alias Twitter accounts expressing support for Al Qaeda, violent holy war and Sunni insurgent groups in Syria, according to court papers.

One message allegedly from Elfgeeh read, "al-Qaida [sic] said it loud and clear; we are fighting the American invasion and their hegemony over the earth and the people."

Elfgeeh is also charged with one count of attempting to kill "officers and employees of the United States," two counts or possession of an unregistered firearm silencer, and a count of possession of firearms and silencers in furtherance of a violent crime. He is scheduled to appear in court for arraignment Thursday.

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