According to a new report by the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security, foreign jihadist networks and homegrown violent extremists are a “persistent terror threat to America.”
The report identifies more than 50 cases in 29 states between April 2021 and September 2024. Some of the cases included dozens of attempts to provide material support to Islamic terrorist groups like ISIS, Hezbollah, and Al Qaeda. Some individuals even received military training from ISIS and Hezbollah.
States where the cases were identified included Alabama, California, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Washington.
In the committee’s press release, the congressmen note that the threats increased after the Biden-Harris administration’s catastrophic withdrawal from Afghanistan, which left 13 service members dead. Additionally, they recognized the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 escalated terrorist threats.
“Three years out from the Biden-Harris administration’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, where an Islamic state operative suicide bomber killed 170 people, including 13 U.S. service members, America’s weakness on the world stage has emboldened state sponsors of terrorism, such as Iran,” read the press release. “As geopolitical tensions rise across the globe, and state sponsors of terrorism become emboldened, threats from terrorism are growing.”
For example, in 2021, Bangladeshi immigrant, Akayed Ullah, was sentenced to life in prison for an ISIS-inspired bombing in a New York City subway station in 2017.
In another instance, 31-year-old Michael Solomon pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide material support to Hamas.
However, the threat is also making its way into Texas.
In January 2022, Malik Faisal Akram held Americans hostage at a Colleyville synagogue before he was killed by authorities.
In July 2022, Jaylyn Christopher Molina from Cost, Texas—just outside of San Antonio—was sentenced to 18 years in prison for conspiring to provide material support to ISIS.
Lastly, in June 2023, Kaan Sercan Damlarkaya from Houston was sentenced to more than 13 years in prison for attempting to provide material support to ISIS. Damlarkaya had also sought to join ISIS overseas and said that if he didn’t join, he would carry out an attack on non-muslims in the U.S., as it was his dream to be a martyr.
The committee also highlighted that, due to the Biden-Harris administration’s open border policies , 382 individuals on the terrorist watchlist have been apprehended at the southwest border since Fiscal Year 2021.
“Despite heightened threats from terrorists, the Biden-Harris administration continues to demonstrate weak leadership on the world stage and fails to admit its policy failures that brought us here. We must change course and take the necessary actions to protect the homeland,” said Committee Chairman Mark E. Green (R-TN).
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