Mississauga teen pled guilty in 2016 over alleged terror plot to attack New York

A Mississauga teen pled guilty in 2016 in connection with an alleged Daesh-inspired plot targeting New York City, say documents released Friday by the U.S. Justice Department.

The documents state Abdulrahman El Bahnasawy, 19, a Canadian citizen, pled guilty to seven terrorism-related charges on Oct. 13, 2016.

Two other men, 19-year-old Talha Haroon, an American citizen living in Pakistan, and 37-year-old Russell Salic, a citizen of the Philippines, have also been arrested.

The Justice Department unsealed details of the case on Friday, offering the first public information on a plot a local expert calls amateur.

Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale’s office redirected questions from the Star to the RCMP. In a written statement Friday, the RCMP said it worked closely with authorities in the U.S. on the case, and public safety was never at risk.

The charges against Haroon and Salic haven’t yet been proven in court.

The following account is based on the information unsealed by the Justice Department.

Communicating via internet messaging applications with an undercover FBI agent, the three allegedly plotted to conduct bombings and shootings in New York City during Ramadan in 2016, the Justice Department said. The targets they planned to attack included Times Square, concert venues and the subway.

In messages, El Bahnasawy and Haroon said they intended to carry out the killings on behalf of Daesh, also known as ISIS and ISIL, using a plan similar to that used in attacks on Paris and Brussels.

El Bahnasawy told the undercover agent he was talking with a Daesh affiliate in Pakistan, and was planning to “create the next 9/11.”

“(W)e seriously need a car bomb at times square,” wrote El Bahnasawy on May 12, 2016, sending the message alongside a photo of the landmark. “Look at these crowds of people!”

They discussed the idea again on May 20, 2016, when Haroon suggested they “(d)rive by or we surround the whole street and trap them and kill as many as possible,” the Justice Department said.

“I wanna kill . . . them in thousands,” Haroon allegedly wrote.

“We have to make a ocean out of their blood. Leave no one standing.”

Also on May 12, 2016, El Bahnasawy said he wanted to “shoot up concerts cuz they kill a lot of people (sic).” El Bahnasawy and Haroon’s plans included specific concert venues, the Justice Department alleged.

“(W)e just walk in with guns in our hands,” El Bahnasawy wrote. “That’s how the Paris guys did it.”

On May 1, 2016, El Bahnasawy sent Haroon maps of the NYC subway system, marking potential lines where they could place explosives, the Justice Department said. Four days later, Haroon said it made a “perfect target” and they should shoot as many train passengers as possible, including women and children.

“NY Needs to fall. It’s a must,” Haroon wrote to the undercover agent on May 9, 2016, according to the Justice Department.

In May 2016, before his arrest, El Bahnasawy bought bomb-making materials, including 40 pounds of hydrogen peroxide, a crucial ingredient in homemade explosives, in Canada. He intended to use them for the planned attacks on New York City, the Justice Department said.

Later that month, he shipped the bomb-making materials to the undercover FBI agent, who had convinced Haroon and El Bahnasawy he was a Daesh supporter who would carry out the attacks with them.

The Justice Department said El Bahnasawy planned to build the devices and plan the rest of the attack with Haroon and the agent at a rural cabin within driving distance of the city.

In early May, El Bahnasawy told the undercover agent he’d been communicating with a trusted Daesh supporter who’d send about $500 to help stage the attacks. That supporter was Salic, who was also known as “Abu Khalid” and “The Doctor” and had helped Daesh with funding in the past, the Justice Department said.

At the time, Salic maintained active pro-Daesh social media, the Justice Department said. He’d also pledged his allegiance to the organization and told the undercover agent he was “desperate” to travel to Syria to join it.

Salic, who was in the Philippines, told the agent he believed he was safe to send money from there without attracting attention from law enforcement.

On May 9, 2016, he wrote: “(I)ts not strict here. Unlike in Aus (Australia) or Uk (the United Kingdom) even liking FB (Facebook) status will put u in jail . . . Terrorists from all over the world usually come here as a breeding ground for terrorists . . . hahahaha . . . But no worry here in Philippines. They dont care bout IS (ISIS) . . . loll (.) Only in west.”

Two days later, Salic wired $423 to the FBI agent, saying he’d send more in the future. “In Sha Allah once we have the blessings again we will distribute again,” he wrote.

The Justice Department said Salic also threatened to carry out an attack, himself, if he wasn’t able to travel to Syria, saying “it would be a great pleasure if we can slaughter” people in New York City.

Finally, on May 21, 2016, El Bahnasawy travelled from Canada to the NYC area to stage the attacks, the Justice Department said. Law enforcement agencies from the U.S. and Canada “closely monitored” him, and arrested him in New Jersey that night, said the Justice Department.

The Justice Department said attacks were planned for as early as May 30, 2016, Memorial Day in the U.S., “a day that will change history” and “scar them for life knowing the soldiers of Allah are everywhere and ready,” Haroon said.

University of Waterloo professor Lorne Dawson, who specializes in terrorism and radicalization, said he’s doubtful the plot, which “sounds on the amateurish side,” reached the higher level of ISIS.

“My bet is this plot is more along the lines of they connected with older, more experienced ISIS sympathizers who, at best, had an . . . indirect connection,” Dawson said. “But that’s enough for these guys at 19; they’re gullible. When (Salic) in the Philippines says he’s connected to ISIS, they’re going to believe it.”

Dawson also said the manner in which El Bahnasawy communicated to Haroon and Salic was not nearly as careful as, for example, the way in which the ISIS-affiliated terrorists communicated while planning and carrying out the Paris bombings, using phones only once or twice before throwing them away.

Dawson said it is “very easy” for anyone to connect with ISIS sympathizers online, and Mississauga, where the Justice Department says El Bahnasawy is from, has been the top area in the GTA for this kind of activity in recent years.

“The odds are (El Bahnasawy) has gone the same route as most of the other foreign fighters we’ve been studying,” Dawson said. “Very quickly these young guys, adept at using a computer, come into contact with people with jihadist views saying the very kinds of things they’re wanting to hear.”

Haroon was arrested in Pakistan in September 2016, the Justice Department said, while Salic was arrested in the Philippines in April 2017. Neither has been extradited to the U.S. yet, although proceedings are pending.

All three face maximum penalties of life in prison.