A Georgia man pleaded guilty to plotting an attack against the White House, according to court documents.
Hasher Jallal Taheb, 23, planned to attack the White House with explosives and other weapons, and pleaded guilty on Wednesday “to a charge of attempting to destroy, by fire or an explosive, a building owned by or leased to the United States.”
“Taheb hatched a dangerous plan that would have resulted in unimaginable injury,” said U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak. “We are grateful to community members who noticed his dangerous evolution and alerted law enforcement. Along with our federal, state and local partners, we will remain vigilant in order to disrupt these types of attacks before they happen.”
Taheb was at the center of an undercover investigation by the FBI for more than a year after a citizen in the Atlanta area alerted authorities that he had become “radicalized” and planned to travel abroad in 2018.
“The FBI also learned that Taheb had begun planning domestic attacks in the United States as part of his desire to engage in ‘jihad,’” according to the Department of Justice.
He was arrested in 2019 when he met with undercover agents in Georgia, thinking he was going to buy weapons for an attack. He is scheduled for sentencing in June, with prosecutors agreeing to a recommended sentence of 15 years.
