Afghan man arrested in Texas threatened suicide attack: US Justice Dept
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A mugshot of Mohammad Dawood Alokozay posted to the X account of Ms Tricia McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary in the US Department of Homeland Security.
PHOTO: X/@TRICIAOHIO
- Mohammad Dawood Alokozay, an Afghan migrant in Texas, is charged with threatening a suicide attack in a social media video praising the Taliban.
- This arrest follows the fatal shooting of a US National Guard member near the White House by Rahmanullah Lakanwal, also an Afghan national.
- Trump administration vows to pause asylum decisions, expressing concerns about Afghan migrants following these incidents.
AI generated
WASHINGTON - An Afghan man has been charged in Texas with threatening to build a bomb and carry out a suicide attack, US officials said on Dec 2 as the Trump administration vows a crackdown on Afghan migrants after a deadly shooting.
Mohammad Dawood Alokozay, 30, of Fort Worth, allegedly made the threats in a Nov 23 video that he shared on TikTok, X and Facebook, the Justice Department said in a statement.
In the video, Alokozay allegedly praises the Taliban and threatens to carry out a suicide attack on Americans.
“Thanks to public reports of a threatening online video, the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force apprehended this individual before he could commit an act of violence,” FBI Dallas special agent-in-charge Joseph Rothrock said.
Attorney-General Pamela Bondi said Alokozay “came into America during the Biden administration and as alleged, explicitly stated that he came here in order to kill American citizens.”
He faces up to five years in prison if convicted of making a threatening interstate communication.
Alokozay’s arrest comes a week after the shooting near the White House in Washington of two National Guard members.
A 29-year-old Afghan national, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, has been charged with first degree murder in connection with the attack which left one of the soldiers dead.
Lakanwal had been part of a CIA-backed “partner force” fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan, and entered the United States as part of a resettlement programme following the US military withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
President Donald Trump said on Nov 30 his administration intends to pause asylum decisions for “a long time” after the shooting.
“We don’t want those people,” he said on social media. AFP
