The FBI says it recovered a bomb from the bedroom of a California man accused of sending dozens of payments totaling over $1,600 to the Islamic State terrorist organization, allegedly to help pay for equipment and weapons for the foreign terrorist organization.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Los Angeles announced Monday that it had participated in last Friday’s arrest of the suspect, Mark Lorenzo Villanueva, 28, of Long Beach. Villanueva, a lawful permanent resident from the Philippines, is charged with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.
“Supporting a terrorist group, whether at home or abroad, is a serious risk to our national security,” Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli stated in the U.S. Department of Justice’s press release.
“We will aggressively hunt down and prosecute anyone who provides support or comfort to our enemies,” Essayli added.
The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force is investigating the allegations against Villanueva, who appeared in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Friday afternoon following his arrest. If convicted, the suspect could serve up to 20 years in a federal prison, according to the DOJ.
The federal criminal complaint alleges that Villanueva communicated with two self-identified ISIS fighters through social media. While communicating with these alleged members of the foreign terrorist group, the suspect reportedly expressed a desire to join ISIS.
“It’s an honor to fight and die for our faith. It’s the best way to go to Heaven,” he allegedly told one of the self-identified ISIS fighters. “Someday soon, I’ll be joining.”
During another conversation with one of the self-identified ISIS fighters, Villanueva revealed that he had a bomb and knives. The FBI would later find what appeared to be a bomb in the suspect’s bedroom on the day of his arrest, according to prosecutors.
In addition to expressing a desire to die for ISIS, Villanueva is accused of offering to send money to help fund the organization’s terrorist activities.
In a February message to one of the self-identified ISIS fighters, the suspect offered to send money, asking if the payment would “cover your equipment and your weapons.” The suspect also discussed sending the payment through an intermediary, according to the DOJ.
The DOJ reported that Western Union records show that Villanueva sent 12 payments to ISIS militants over five months, totaling $1,615. According to the complaint, two intermediaries accessed the payments from overseas.
“Mr. Villanueva is alleged to have financially supported and pledged his allegiance to a terror group that targets the United States and our interests around the world,” Patrick Grandy, the acting assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, said in the DOJ’s Friday press release.
“Thanks to the proactive efforts by the Joint Terrorism Task Force, the FBI and our partners safely arrested Mr. Villanueva today and prevented further support and spreading of ISIS ideology,” Grandy stated.
Earlier this year, an Iraqi-born man in Chicago was convicted of conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham by using social media to recruit fighters and carry out attacks on the terrorist group’s behalf.
Ashraf Al Safoo, 41, was convicted in a federal court in Chicago on June 27 following his arrest in 2018.
U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey found Al Safoo guilty on one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, one count of conspiracy to transmit threats in interstate commerce, and one count of conspiracy to access a protected computer without authorization.
Al Safoo was also convicted of four counts of intentionally accessing a protected computer without authorization and four counts of providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization.
In its June press release, the DOJ cited court documents that described Al Safoo as the leader of Khattab Media Foundation, an internet organization that swore allegiance to ISIS.
The DOJ cited a social media post in which Al Safoo told Khattab to post pro-IS information “to cause confusion and spread terror within the hearts of those who disbelieved.”
“Work hard, brothers, edit the issue into short clips, take the pictures out of it and publish the efforts of your brothers in the pages of the apostates,” the Iraqi-born Chicago man wrote in another social media post. “Participate in the war, and spread terror, the [Islamic] State does not want you to watch it only, rather, it incites you, and if you are unable to, use it to incite others.”
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: samantha.kamman@christianpost.com. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
