Virginia College Student Charged With Plotting 'Mass Casualty' Attack on NY Israeli Consulate

The FBI has arrested and charged a George Mason University student for allegedly planning an attack on the Israeli consulate in New York City.

Abdullah Ezzeldin Taha Mohamed Hassan, an 18-year-old Egyptian national living in Falls Church, Virginia, instructed an undercover FBI agent on how to make a bomb and plan an attack on the Manhattan consulate, according to court documents. 

The freshman information technology major is being charged with the distribution of information relating to explosives, destructive devices, and weapons of mass destruction.

"The FBI's New York Office wants to reassure our Jewish community here in New York that our office — along with our law enforcement partners — remains vigilant in our efforts to identify, investigate, and disrupt potential threats to our community, using every tool at our disposal to do so. As always, we urge all community members to report suspicious activity to law enforcement and call 911 in cases of imminent violence or threats to life," the FBI said in a statement. 

"We will continue working to ensure our communities remain safe places for all, and we thank the public for their continued trust and partnership." 

Hassan caught the federal agency's attention after the Fairfax County Police Department told them about a tipster who brought Hassan's social media posts to their attention. 

The tipster said the account engaged in "radical and terrorist-leaning behavior."

Hassan ran social media accounts supporting ISIS, al-Qaeda, and Hamas, a complaint filed by the FBI in a federal court in Virginia noted.

Prosecutors alleged Hassan made posts "revering Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al Zawahiri" and called for "violence against Jews."

The FBI was able to trace the posts back to Hassan's phone and an IP address at the Virginia school. 

In August, Hassan began messaging an FBI undercover agent who he believed he recruited and gave them instructions on how to conduct a "mass casualty attack."

Over several weeks, Hassan sent the informant bomb-making instructions and told him to target a building representing Jews in New York. He later settled on the Israeli consulate. 

The suspect told the informant how to surveil the building and how to escape to ISIS territory after the attack. He told the "recruit" the attack could be done with a bomb containing 30 mm aluminum ball bearings, for shrapnel, to "do the trick," or "lay havoc on them with an assault rifle."

Hassan also told the informant to livestream the attack, so he could send the footage to ISIS. 

Ofir Akunis, Israeli's consul-general in New York, thanked the FBI for stopping the planned attack. 

"This attempted attack by terror organizations is an attack on the sovereign soil of the State of Israel in its entirety," Akunis told The Times of Israel." "It's proof that terror knows no boundaries and that we must fight it everywhere and every time."

Hassan, who according to a court filing was arrested on December 17, is in the process of being deported. 

George Mason University president Gregory Washington said in a statement to the campus community that "a student recently arrested by the FBI" has been banned from entering campus property.

"As criminal proceedings progress, the university will take appropriate action on student code of conduct violations," Washington added, emphasizing ongoing efforts to bolster campus safety.

Hassan's arrest comes amid rising threats against Jews as the ongoing conflict between Hamas and Israel continues. 

House GOP Report Finds College Campuses Failed to Crack Down on Anti-Israel Protests 

The House Antisemitism Staff Report, a recently released House report, finds that universities across the country have violated the civil rights of Jews in their handling of anti-Israel campus protests. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson announced the House-wide investigative effort in April after the surge of anti-semitic protests on college campuses. 

This effort was led by the Education and the Workforce Committee, the Energy and Commerce Committee, the Judiciary Committee, the Oversight Committee, the Veterans Affairs Committee, and the Ways and Means Committee.

After the seven-month investigation, lawmakers found that U.S. higher education institutions failed to address antisemitism on campus and recommended more oversight for the U.S. Department of Education and other agencies.

"It's our intent to take this report, its recommendations, and act," Speaker Johnson said. "We'll use what's in here to continue protecting our Jewish brothers and sisters from discrimination and violence. But make no mistake, we will continue these efforts in the next Congress, and anytime antisemitism rears its ugly head, the House will shine a light on it and take action."