North Texas man charged with trying to provide material support to ISIS, officials say

2 days ago 63

A Midlothian antheral has been charged with attempting to supply worldly enactment to a overseas violent enactment aft helium brought bomb-making materials to an idiosyncratic helium thought was portion of ISIS, authorities said.

John Michael Garza Jr. was charged successful a national ailment with planetary terrorism, according to U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Ryan Raybould.

According to the complaint, Garza brought bomb-making components to a gathering connected Dec. 22.

FBI undercover cognition leads to apprehension

"In reality, Garza met with an FBI undercover," according to a quality release. "During the meeting, Garza described however to premix components and offered to nonstop an instructional video explaining however to physique the bomb."

Garza was arrested aft helium near the meeting.

It each began successful October, national officials say, erstwhile an undercover New York City constabulary worker noticed a societal media account, aboriginal determined to beryllium Garza's, pursuing respective pro-ISIS accounts. When the New York worker reached retired to Garza, helium described himself arsenic a 21-year-old Mexican-American surviving successful Texas.

Online enactment reveals ISIS ideology

As the New York undercover serviceman and Garza continued to chat online, Garza shared that helium ascribed to ISIS ideology and adjacent sent tiny amounts of cryptocurrency, believing helium was helping enactment ISIS causes.

Garza sent the undercover bureau aggregate authoritative ISIS media releases, national officials said, and paid tiny amounts of cryptocurrency successful November and December 2025, believing that helium was supporting ISIS causes, including buying firearms and different materials, the DOJ said.

"This lawsuit is simply a testament to the unthinkable enactment of our national agents, who enactment tirelessly to prevention American lives," said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. "ISIS's poisonous ideology indispensable beryllium ripped retired basal and stem — anyone who tries to perpetrate unit connected ISIS's behalf volition beryllium found, arrested, and prosecuted. You cannot fell from us."

Garza's archetypal tribunal quality was Dec. 23. A probable origin and detention proceeding has been acceptable for Dec. 30.

Authorities praise investigative efforts

"Today's announcement underscores the FBI's committedness to combating coercion and demonstrates our continuous enactment to disrupt and thwart violent plots against the American public," said FBI Director Kash Patel. "Let this service arsenic a informing to those who program to behaviour attacks against the United States connected behalf of violent organizations- you volition beryllium brought to justice."

Raybould promised national authorities would instrumentality speedy enactment against anyone suspected of trying to perpetrate acts of terrorism.

"The expanding threats of harm and demolition successful our state made by those aligned with convulsive ideologies indispensable beryllium stopped," Raybould said. "This cognition is but 1 illustration highlighting the necessity of vigilant reflection and swift enactment to halt what could person been a devastating outcome."

New York PD Commissioner Jessica Tisch thanked the enactment of the undercover investigators successful her department.

"Today's charges exemplify that the threats of coercion and extremist unit against our federation are inactive precise real," said Tisch. "The NYPD remains committed to identifying, disrupting, and dismantling these networks astatine their root - earlier they tin scope their murderous ends. And immoderate idiosyncratic who puts American lives astatine hazard volition look justness and beryllium held accountable to the fullest grade of the law."

Multiple agencies assisted successful the investigation, officials said, including the FBI's Dallas Field Office, the New York City Police Department, with assistance by the FBI's New York Field Office, the Dallas Police Department, the Midlothian Police Department, and the Euless Police Department.

"The FBI worked alongside our instrumentality enforcement partners to rapidly apprehension an idiosyncratic who intended to supply weaponry making materials to a overseas violent organization," said FBI Dallas Special Agent successful Charge R. Joseph Rothrock. "Protecting the homeland is simply a apical precedence for the FBI. This apprehension demonstrates our committedness to safeguarding our communities from terrorism."