George Mason University student charged with plotting mass casualty attack on Israeli consulate in New York
By Karina Tsui, CNN
(CNN) — The FBI has arrested a student at George Mason University in Virginia for allegedly plotting a mass casualty attack on the Israeli consulate in New York, according to a federal court filing.
Egyptian national Abdullah Ezzeldin Taha Mohamed Hassan faces a slew of federal charges tied to distributing information related to explosives, destructive devices and weapons of mass destruction and the intent to murder internationally protected persons, according to an affidavit filed in support of a criminal complaint against him filed Monday in US District Court in Virginia.
Hassan, who resides in Falls Church, Virginia, is in the process of being deported, according to court documents. He is a freshman majoring in information technology, the university said.
Hassan came to the FBI’s attention through a tip regarding his active social media presence earlier this year, according to the affidavit.
A tipster reported an account linked to Hassan to police, saying it engaged in “radical and terrorist-leaning behavior” on X, court documents show. Prosecutors alleged Hassan made posts “revering Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al Zawahiri” and operated “several pro-ISIS and al Qaeda accounts that promoted violence against Jews.”
The FBI was able to trace the user’s posts to his phone and subsequently a university campus IP address in Virginia.
An undercover FBI informant posing as an extremist later began communicating with Hassan, who allegedly “recruited” the informant “to conduct a mass casualty attack” and over the course of several days in mid-November sent the informant information, including the address of the Consulate General of Israel in New York, bomb-making instructions and links to purchase cartridges and a rifle to carry out the attack, according to the affidavit.
In a statement to the campus community, George Mason University president Gregory Washington said that “a student recently arrested by the FBI” has been banned from entering campus property.
“As criminal proceedings progress, the university will take appropriate action on student code of conduct violations,” Washington added, emphasizing ongoing efforts to bolster campus safety.
CNN has reached out to George Mason University for further comment.
Hassan’s arrest comes amid rising threats against Jews, Palestinians and Muslims in the US, as Israel’s bombardment of Gaza rages on.
Earlier this month, the Washington Post reported George Mason banned two sisters who are the current and past presidents of the university’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine from campus for four years, after authorities searched their family home and found “relatives’ guns, ammunition and insignia calling for death to Jews,” though it is not clear whether the firearms were tied to the sisters’ ban.
The recent arrest “so far appears to have no connection to an earlier police action involving two George Mason students whose home was searched in November,” Washington said in his statement.
More than 90 advocacy and faculty groups from across the country, along with a Virginia state lawmaker, signed a letter to President Washington claiming that the two students were targeted “for their advocacy for Palestinian human rights” and urged the university to revoke trespass orders.
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