FBI arrests Houston man for alleged ISIS ties, terror plot on US soil

A Texas man is in FBI custody on Thursday after authorities say he attempted to support ISIS and planned a terrorist attack on American soil — all from his apartment in Houston.

Authorities said 28-year-old Anas Said was searching for ways to commit violent acts on behalf of the Islamic State in the Houston area. He has been charged with attempting to provide material support to the terrorist group.

Said was arrested last week at the apartment complex where he lived, according to FBI Special Agent in Charge Douglas Williams. 

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FBI Special Agent in Charge Doug Williams addresses the media from the Houston field office on Jan. 19. (Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)

Williams said that while in custody, Said admitted to researching how to conduct an attack on local military recruiting centers, offering his home as sanctuary for ISIS operatives, bragging that he would commit a “9/11-style” attack if he had the resources and attempting to produce ISIS propaganda.

“We stopped a potential terrorist attack from happening right here in Houston! Any day we can publicly say that is a good day,” FBI Houston said. 

Said is being held in custody but appeared in court for a preliminary hearing on Tuesday, his attorney, Balemar Zuniga, told Fox News Digital. 

“The indictment only alleges that he supported a terrorist group through the production of videos and propaganda,” he said, noting that federal prosecutors mentioned the plotting of terror acts but have not charged him with such. “None of that is alleged.”

READ THE DOJ DETENTION MEMO LAYING OUT ALLEGATIONS AGAINST SAID — APP USERS, CLICK HERE:

Said has been on the FBI’s radar since the bureau received a tip in 2017 about him purchasing two stickers: “one containing an image of the Dome of the Rock2 with an ISIS flag overlaying the image, and another showing the white silhouette of a man holding a rifle with the caption, “Winning the Islamic Nation.” 

“Does it seem a bit excessive? Yes,” Zuniga said. 

Said was interviewed by the FBI four times in 2018 in relation to the sticker purchases.

“During an interview conducted on or about January 29, 2018, the Defendant admitted both stickers were meant to show support for ISIS,” though he did not support killing in the name of ISIS at the time, according to a detention memo laying out the allegations against Said. Said began supporting the ISIS ideology in 2015 when his family returned to the U.S. from Lebanon.

Said was born in the United States and moved to Lebanon with with family as a child, Zuniga said. He returned to the U.S. in 2014. 

Despite Said’s alleged crimes, he doesn’t have any negative feelings about the U.S., said Zuniga. 

“I would not say that at all,” he said. “I think that he is certainly passionate about protecting his Islamic religion. I don’t think he has any particular animosity toward the United States itself.”

In a 2019 FBI interview, Said claimed “he no longer consumed radical Islamic propaganda and only used the internet for schoolwork and for watching sports,” according to the memo. 

The Department of Justice seals is seen during a news conference at the DOJ office in Washington, May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

That wasn’t true, according to the DOJ.

“On or about October 18, 2023, pursuant to legal process, FBI received information from Meta Platforms, Inc. (‘Meta’) regarding 11 Facebook accounts used by the Defendant that showed he continued to support ISIS and the violent attacks carried out in its name,” according to the DOJ.

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His family members “expressed their concerns” in FBI interviews, and “subsequent analysis of the Defendant’s electronic devices revealed multiple encrypted messaging applications containing records of his efforts to create and disseminate propaganda that glorified ISIS’s ongoing violence, the evidence underlying the material support offense charged in the indictment,” the department alleged.

Said allegedly refused to comply with FBI agents who executed a search warrant against him last Friday, and he smashed his cellphone.