WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — US authorities apprehended two residents of Anaheim, California for providing material support to ISIL and intending to join the militant group overseas, the US Department of Justice said in a press release.
“Muhanad Badawi, 24, and Nader Elhuzayel, 24, both of Anaheim, California, were arrested late Thursday afternoon by the FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation],” the release read on Friday.
The Justice Department explained Badawi and Elhuzayel used social media to discuss Islamic State and terrorist attacks.
“[They] expressed a desire to die as martyrs and made arrangements for Elhuzayel to leave the United States to join ISIL,” it said.
In April 2015, the two suspects stated fighting and dying for the cause of Allah on the battlefield is a “blessing,” and referred to the Islamic State as “we,” according to the release.
On May 3, 2015, Elhuzayel expressed his support via Twitter for the two gunmen who attacked a Prophet Mohammad cartoon contest exhibit in Garland, Texas, and praised one of the attackers as “martyr,” the release stated.
The two suspects were charged in a criminal complaint filed in the US District Court for the Central District of California on Friday.
