By Forum Staff
Elmhurst resident Awais Chudhary was sentenced on Tuesday to nine years in prison for attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization, in connection with his efforts to attack civilians with a knife in Queens, according to federal prosecutors.
According to court filings, in August 2019, after watching violent terrorist propaganda videos, Chudhary, 25, pledged his allegiance to ISIS’s then-leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi and began planning for a knife or bomb attack on behalf of the group. Chudhary identified targets, including the pedestrian bridges over the Grand Central Parkway and the Flushing Bay Promenade, where he intended to carry out the attacks. Chudhary conducted several reconnaissance trips to these locations and made video recordings of the areas he intended to attack.
Photo Courtesy of bridgeandtunnelclub.com
… and the Flushing Bay Promenade.
Chudhary sought guidance from people whom he believed to be ISIS supporters, including about what type of knife to use and how to prevent detection from law enforcement by not leaving “traces of finger prints [or] DNA.” Chudhary also sent a screenshot of an ISIS propaganda magazine that included a diagram of the human body depicting where to stab victims with a knife.
In preparing for his attack, Chudhary ordered items online that he intended to use, including a tactical knife, a mask, gloves, and a cellphone chest and head-strap to help him to record the attack, which he hoped would serve as inspiration to other ISIS supporters. Chudhary was arrested as he attempted to retrieve the items he ordered from an online retailer’s locker in Queens.
Before planning his specific violent attack, Chudhary separately contributed to ISIS’s violent aims to help recruit English-speaking internet users to the group’s hateful cause. Working with another ISIS member who was separately convicted of material support charges, Chudhary assisted ISIS in its propaganda efforts by helping to translate some of the group’s propaganda materials into English.
