LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – Karrem Nasr, a 23-year-old U.S. citizen from Lawrenceville, New Jersey, has been charged with attempting to provide material support to al Shabaab, a designated foreign terrorist organization. The arrest, announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, follows Nasr’s apprehension in Nairobi, Kenya on December 14, 2023.
Nasr, also known as “Ghareeb Al-Muhajir,” was reportedly motivated by a Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, 2023, to wage violent jihad against the United States and its allies. According to U.S. Attorney Damian Williams, Nasr’s plan to join and train with al Shabaab for a violent jihadist mission was disrupted thanks to the combined efforts of law enforcement agencies.
The FBI revealed that Nasr traveled from Egypt to Kenya with the intention of joining al Shabaab in Somalia. He allegedly expressed his readiness to kill and be killed for the jihadist cause, labeling America as “evil” and the “head of the snake.”
In social media posts and communications with an FBI confidential source, Nasr declared his intention to engage in jihad, motivated by the October 7 Hamas attack. He made explicit threats against the United States in these posts, including one that stated, “Jihad coming soon to a US location near you.”
Upon his return to the United States on December 28, 2023, Nasr was taken into custody and is set to be presented before U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Moses in Manhattan federal court. The charge against him carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement: “As alleged, Karrem Nasr, motivated by the heinous terrorist attack perpetrated by Hamas on October 7, devoted himself to waging violent jihad against America and its allies. Nasr, a citizen of this country, traveled from Egypt to Kenya bent on joining and training with al Shabaab so that he could execute his jihadist mission of death and destruction. Nasr was prepared to kill and be killed to support the jihadist cause, and in his own words, he described America as ‘evil’ and the ‘head of the snake.’ Thanks to the extraordinary efforts of the career prosecutors in my Office and our law enforcement partners who led the investigation, Nasr’s plan to train with a terrorist organization and wage violent jihad has been disrupted. Make no mistake: My Office is committed to investigating, disrupting, and prosecuting anyone who is inspired by Hamas’s October 7 attack and seeks to harm Americans, whether here or abroad.”
This case underscores the collaborative efforts of the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, NYPD, and international partners in preventing acts of terrorism and safeguarding national security.