ISIS recruits? 2 men from Uzbekistan, 1 from Kazakhstan arrested in NYC on terrorism charges

Greg P. | 1:03 PM on February 25, 2015

Whoa.

The FBI arrested three men in New York City earlier today on suspicion of providing material support to ISIS and plotting domestic attacks in the United States:

RT @CBSNewYork: 3 #Brooklyn men arrested for allegedly trying to join #ISIS, authorities say. http://t.co/wDraCTcblb

— CBS Los Angeles (@CBSLA) February 25, 2015

New from DoJ: 3 Brooklyn, NY residents charged w/ conspiring to provide material support to #ISIS. pic.twitter.com/zHzRUWsJUt

— Nick Kalman (@NickKalmanFN) February 25, 2015

Breaking: 3 Brooklyn men arrested as planning to travel to #Syria to join #ISIS – 2 citizens of Uzbekistan, 1 of Kazakhstan, says FBI

— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) February 25, 2015

Two of the men are scheduled to appear in court in Brooklyn, the other in Florida. MORE: http://t.co/k8kCyNgf3Y

— Spectrum News NY1 (@NY1) February 25, 2015

ABC 7 NYC has more information on the suspects, including these rather confusing descriptions of their nationality and residency that leaves open the question of how these three ended up in the United States in the first place:

The men have been identified as Abdurasul Hasanovich Juraboev, 24, a resident of Brooklyn and a citizen of Uzbekistan; Akhror Saidakhmetov, 19, a resident of Brooklyn and a citizen of Kazakhstan; and Abror Habibov, 30, a resident of Brooklyn and a citizen of Uzbekistan.

Officials say Juraboev and Saidakhmetov first came to the attention of law enforcement during the summer of 2014 after they expressed their online support for the establishment by force of an Islamic caliphate in Iraq and Syria.

Saidakhmetov intended to commit acts of terrorism on American soil if they were unable to travel abroad to join ISIS, according to authorities. In an August 2014 posting on an Uzbek-language website that propagates ISIS’s ideology, Juraboev offered to kill the President of the United States if ordered to do so by ISIS.

More recently, authorities say Saidakhmetov expressed his intent to buy a machine gun and shoot police officers and FBI agents if thwarted in his plan to join ISIS in Syria.