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PHILADELPHIA - Officials will discuss the conviction of a 19-year-old man who they say conspired with a foreign terrorist organization to plot attacks on several events in Philadelphia.
The backstory:
Muhyyee-Ud-Din Abdul-Rahman, 19, was arrested in Aug. 2023 after investigators intercepted communications between him and Syrian-based terrorist organizations.
Through those communications it was alleged that Rahman wanted to become a bombmaker for Katibat al Tawhid wal Jihad (KTJ) or Hay’at Tahrir al Sham (HTS).
KTJ is officially designated by the U.S. State Department as a global terrorist organization and is affiliated with Al-Qaeda.
Rahman was accused of gathering materials, including muriatic acid, potassium nitrate, and fertilizer, to construct explosives at his parents’ house.
It was alleged that Rahman tested the homemade explosives at least a dozen times, and he even attempted to create an "extremely potent and unstable" explosive mixture known as "The Mother or Satan."
Philadelphia teen who tried to join terrorist group as bomb maker will be tried as an adult: DA
18-year-old Muhyyee-Ud-Din Abdul-Rahman of Philadelphia who was arrested for allegedly trying to join an overseas terrorist organization as a bomb maker will be prosecuted as an adult, the DA says.
Investigators also discovered that Rahman also purchased tactical combat gear, including a chest rig that can store multiple AK-47 magazines.
Rahman admitted his intent to assist terrorists overseas as a bombmaker after he was arrested in August 2023, according to prosecutors.
A search of his internet activity revealed that Rahman may have been targeting events in the city, including the Philadelphia Pride Parade, the Army-Navy football game, and nuclear power plants in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
He was charged with several crimes, including Attempt to Commit Weapons of Mass Destruction. He is being held on $5M bail.
What they're saying:
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner went through pages of court documents that outlined Rahman's online search history, which shed light on his intentions.
Krasner likened Rahman's plot against the Philadelphia Pride Parade to the Boston Marathon bombing, adding that his search history included "Philadelphia trash cans downtown" and "Parade tracker 2023 Philadelphia."
"After searching ‘what is Shari Law’ about LGBTQ people, (Rahman) was now researching what is obviously targets including gay pride in the City of Philadelphia," Krasner said. "Philadelphia could have been New Orleans, Philadelphia could have been Boston."
Krasner's shared more of Rahman's search queries, including his research into planning attacks on locations in the Philadelphia-area, Washington D.C., and various nuclear power plants and power grids.
What's next:
Krasner said he is pushing for a prison sentence of 10-20 years for Rahman, adding that the prosecution plans to have people who would have been impacted by Rahman's actions testify.
"We seek to introduce testimony from a wide array of this defendant's potential victims, people who are alive today in large part because this young man got caught," he said. "Maybe that will be a different way for this young man to see people who participate in the Pride parade."