00:00We can now share that federal charges have been filed in the Southern District of New York
00:04against two individuals, Amir Balat and Ibrahim Kayoumi, in connection with that attack.
00:12The defendants are charged with attempting to provide material support to ISIS,
00:17using a weapon of mass destruction, transporting explosive materials,
00:22interstate transportation and receipt of explosive materials,
00:25and unlawful possession of destructive devices.
00:30The complaint sets forth the factual allegations supporting those charges.
00:35As alleged in the complaint, the defendants were inspired by ISIS to carry out their attack.
00:41There should be no confusion about what ISIS constitutes.
00:46It is a designated foreign terrorist organization responsible for deadly terrorist attacks across the globe
00:53and has taken credit for mass casualty attacks in Europe, the Middle East, and right here in the United States.
01:00And as alleged, both defendants have admitted that they acted on Saturday because of ISIS.
01:07As Kayoumi was being placed into an NYPD vehicle following his arrest, a person in the crowd asked why he
01:15had done this.
01:15As shown on NYPD body-worn camera footage referenced in the complaint, Kayoumi responded with ISIS.
01:23And at the precinct, after being advised of his Miranda rights and waiving those rights,
01:28Kayoumi said in recorded post-arrest statements that he had watched ISIS propaganda on his phone
01:35and that his actions that day were partly inspired by ISIS.
01:39The complaint also detailed statements made by Amir Balat after his arrest.
01:46En route to the NYPD precinct, Balat made spontaneous statements without being questioned by NYPD officers
01:52that were captured on body-worn camera footage.
01:55He said,
02:09And later, after waiving his rights, he requested paper and wrote a message declaring, in part,
02:16I pledge my allegiance to the Islamic State, die in your rage, you Kufar.
02:22Now, die in your rage is a commonly known ISIS slogan,
02:26and Kufar is an Arabic term that refers to non-believers.
02:32He also told investigators that he had hoped to carry out an attack even bigger than the Boston Marathon bombing,
02:39which he noted resulted in only three deaths.
02:42These statements, as set forth in the complaint, make clear that this was not random violence.
02:48This was a planned attack motivated by extremist ideology and inspired by a violent foreign terrorist organization.
02:57The complaint alleges not only why the defendants acted, but how.
03:02Preliminary testing has determined that one of the devices contained triacetone triperoxide, or TATP,
03:08also commonly referred to as Mother of Satan,
03:12a highly volatile explosive that has been used in multiple terrorist attacks over the last decade.
03:18As we have previously discussed, the NYPD identified a vehicle yesterday on East End Avenue
03:23that was linked to the defendants.
03:25Inside that vehicle, investigators recovered handwritten notes referencing TATP explosive
03:32and listing chemical ingredients for the type of explosive device used by the defendants on Saturday.
03:39Make no mistake, what happened this weekend was incredibly dangerous,
03:43and the ongoing investigation will be exhaustive.
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