A 19-year-old US citizen was charged on Monday with conspiracy to provide material support to the Islamic State (IS) group, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), after allegedly planning to carry out assassinations and attacks in its name.
Justin Nolan Sullivan, a self-described Muslim convert, was arrested without incident on Friday last week at his home in Morganton, North Carolina, in possession of an unlicensed silencer, the US Department of Justice said.
It alleged Sullivan planned to buy a semi-automatic AR-15 assault rifle at a gun show on Saturday “to kill a large number of US citizens on behalf of ISIL.”
Sullivan received the silencer in the mail from an undercover agent after discussing plans with him to carry out “minor assassinations before the big attack,” according to the complaint.
It quoted Sullivan as telling the undercover agent that “the war is here,” and urging him to join the Islamic State of North America, whose doctrine was “guerrilla warfare in and out.”
US assistant attorney general John Carlin said that Sullivan “was planning assassinations and violent attacks in the United States and is charged with attempting to provide material support to ISIL and federal firearms violations.”
The terrorism charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, while the two weapons charges each carry a maximum penalty of 10 years.
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