A Virginia man allegedly funded ISIS members and made threats against the U.S.
The FBI arrested 33-year-old Mohammed Chhipa Thursday and charged him with providing or attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist group.
An affidavit filed in federal court claims Chhipa made multiple social media posts sympathizing with ISIS. The FBI says it has evidence that he sent money to a known ISIS member in Syria.
Investigators allege he messaged an undercover FBI agent in 2019 expressing his “desire to conduct an attack against infidels and hypocrites and die in the name of Allah."
"We don't hear about ISIS as much, because the capabilities of ISIS have been dramatically degraded," said U.S. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee.
While ISIS is not the national security threat it once was, the CIA still actively monitors that region for communications like the one Chhipa is accused of, Warner said.
“There are still many who wish us harm from that part of the world, and they have sympathizers," he said.
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Chhipa has a federal court appearance in Alexandria Wednesday.
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