NJ Residents Linked To ISIS, Hezbollah Threat, New Report Says

NEW JERSEY — Several New Jersey residents have been linked to a "persistent terror threat" to America from foreign jihadist networks and home-grown violent extremists, according to a new U.S. House report.

The House Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence released a "Terror Threat Snapshot" on Oct. 3, which outlines cases where extremist groups have radicalized people in America and abroad "to plan, support, and perpetrate terrorist attacks on U.S. soil and beyond."

This report details more than 50 cases in 29 states that have occurred since April 2021, involving people attempting to aid designated terror groups such as ISIS, Hezbollah, and Al Qaeda, or receiving military-type training from these groups.

Three of these cases involved New Jersey residents — including Hadi Matar of Fairview, who was accused of trying to murder British-American author Salman Rushdie in 2022. This year, federal officials also charged Matar with engaging in an act of terrorism and providing material support to Hezbollah (also spelled Hizballah).

The two other New Jersey residents mentioned in the report were Alexei Saab of Morristown and Seema Rahman of Edison. Saab is serving a 12-year sentence in federal prison after being convicted of scouting U.S. landmarks for terror attacks and receiving military-style training from Hezbollah.

Saab joined Hezbollah in 1996 and received his first Hezbollah military training in 1999, according to court documents. Officials said he joined Hezbollah's external operations unit, the IJO, in 2000, and received extensive training in weapons and military tactics, including how to construct and detonate bombs and other explosive devices.

According to authorities, Saab obtained US citizenship in 2008 after falsely claiming he had never been a member of a terrorist organization. Saab worked as a software engineer and remained an IJO operative while in the United States.

According to court documents, he continued to receive military training in Lebanon while carrying out operations such as photographing and exposing structural flaws at dozens of New York City locations, such as the Statue of Liberty, Rockefeller Center and local airports.

In 2022, the Department of Justice charged Rahman and three other people with conspiring to provide funding to ISIS. The group said they were raising money to help needy families when they really were sending money to cryptocurrency accounts tied to the terror group, federal officials said.

According to officials, Rahman created multiple GoFundMe campaigns that claimed to be collecting money for charitable causes, which were ultimately sent to ISIS affiliates.

The Committee on Homeland Security Chairman, Rep. Mark E. Green (R-TN), said the U.S. "is facing a dynamic and worsening terror threat landscape." He criticized the Biden administration for the "chaotic" withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, and said an ISIS terror attack that killed 13 U.S. troops outside Kabul's airport that August has "emboldened state sponsors of terrorism."

"Foreign jihadist networks like ISIS and Hizballah, as well as homegrown violent extremists ideologically motivated by these terrorist groups, present security threats to the homeland," Green said in a statement.

Green also pointed to statistics showing that the number of people with records in the Terrorist Screening Data Set (aka the "watch list") who have been apprehended at the Southern border has increased over a three-year period, including 46 so far this year.

However, many more people on the terrorism watch list have been stopped at the Northern border in recent years, with 321 apprehended so far in 2024, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data.

Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-RI), a ranking member of the Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement & Intelligence Subcommittee, in turn criticized Republicans in the House for rejecting a bipartisan border security package earlier this year.

"While the Biden- Harris administration has taken steps to make the border and homeland safer, House Republicans have tried to obstruct them every step of the way," he said.

You can view the report from the Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence Subcommittee here. Just as a note, no New Jersey representatives are on this particular committee.

And, the Department of Homeland Security also released a "Homeland Threat Assessment" earlier this month. The DHS said the threat of terrorism nationwide will remain high over the next year due to a number of factors — including both foreign and domestic terrorists seeking to disrupt the upcoming election cycle, and "the galvanizing effect that successful terrorist attacks abroad and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East have had on a range of violent actors."

State Terrorism Assessment

The New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness released their latest Threat Assessment back in March, which said that homegrown violent extremists and white supremacists are a bigger threat to the state than foreign terror organizations.

This report details predicted behaviors for domestic extremists – who are primarily anarchist, anti-government, and racially motivated – in 2024, which will "exploit the presidential election to amplify their hostility towards social and economic policies, immigration, and ethnic and religious minorities."

The report also suggests some extremists may be motivated by ongoing political conflict abroad, such as the Israel-Hamas war.

"While the threat from HAMAS and other foreign terrorist organizations is low, HVEs [homegrown violent extremists], inspired by these groups, may be motivated by global conflicts to plan or execute attacks in the U.S.," Laurie R. Doran, director of the NJOHSP, said in a statement. "Domestic extremists, including WRMEs [white racially motivated extremists], may exploit the upcoming presidential election to amplify their ideologies and commit acts of violence, focusing on soft targets like mass gatherings and critical infrastructure."

You can read that 68-page threat assessment here.