US teens planned ISIS-inspired attack on Chicago mosque, FBI says in newly released court docs

An 18-year-old from Maine and two underage youngsters deliberate an ISIS-inspired assault on a Chicago-area Shia mosque that might have been carried out on the finish of March, the FBI mentioned in court docket paperwork unsealed on Friday. 

Xavier Pelkey and an unnamed 17-year-old and 15-year-old from Kentucky and the Chicago space communicated by Instagram and different chat functions and deliberate an assault on a selected mosque in late March throughout “spring break,” the newly launched paperwork mentioned. 

Pelkey was arrested on Feb. 11 and charged with possession of an unregistered harmful gadget. 

Underneath the plan, Pelkey was imagined to deliver firearms and ammunition to Chicago and he allegedly instructed one in every of his coconspirators that he had made an explosive gadget to “get extra folks.” 

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Pelkey and the opposite teen who lived outdoors of Chicago have been to take a prepare or a bus and allegedly meet their fellow coconspirator within the metropolis earlier than the assault. 

One of many teenagers “defined that they might enter the Shia mosque and separate the adults from the youngsters, then homicide the adults,” the court docket paperwork mentioned. “If that they had not encountered legislation enforcement at that time, they might proceed on to a different Shia mosque or Jewish synagogue and execute the identical plan. They didn’t have a plan to flee however fairly their plan ended with them being shot by legislation enforcement.”

A second flag was present in Pelkey’s bed room. 
(FBI)

Chicago FBI brokers seized a number of firearms, together with a Remington pump shotgun, swords, knives, a bow and arrows, a number of do-it-yourself ISIS flags, and a number of digital units from the 15-year-old’s house following a search warrant, the FBI mentioned. 

Whereas chatting with the FBI, the 17-year-old mentioned Pelkey “had talked about gathering supplies to make fireworks to assault somebody,” including that he “instructed him that he wished Allah to grant him to be a shaheed and die whereas combating in the reason for Allah.”

Pelkey allegedly admitted to the FBI to owing the Instagram account “Abdullah.ibn.ahmad” that he used to speak along with his conspirators after the FBI was given entry to the account by Meta, which owns Instagram, the paperwork mentioned. 

Whereas conducting a search at Pelkey’s house in February brokers allegedly discovered three do-it-yourself explosive units in his bed room and two hand-painted ISIS flags.