Seven men were arrested in the US after allegedly conspiring to wage jihad overseas
Authorities in the US have arrested and detained a group of homegrown terrorists who they say were armed with automatic weapons and planning to wage a religious war overseas.
The seven men arrested—including a father and his two sons—were charged with providing material support to terrorists and conspiring to murder, kidnap, maim, and injure people overseas, said the FBI.
All of the defendants are US citizens and North Carolina residents. One of them, Daniel Patrick Boyd, once fought and trained in terrorist camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan, reported the authorities.
The indictment details a conspiracy that began in 2006. The defendants trained for battle in the US and at least one was willing to die as a martyr. It said they raised money to support their training and radicalized young Muslims to further their cause.
According to the charges the men gained access to weapons, including a military assault rifle, illegally and trained with them on a private property in Caswell County.
Boyd traveled in March 2006 with one of his sons to Gaza to introduce him to individuals who believed violent jihad was a religious obligation, said the FBI.
‘The threat that terrorists and extremists pose to America and our allies has not dulled or gone away,’ said Owen Harris, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Charlotte Division. ‘These arrests show there are people living among us, in our communities in North Carolina and around the US, that are honing their skills to carry out acts of murder and mayhem.’
