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FBI arrests Houston man for alleged ISIS ties, terror plot on US soil

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FBI arrests Houston man for alleged ISIS ties, terror plot on US soil

A Texas man is in FBI custody on Thursday after authorities say he attempted to support ISIS and planned a terrorist attack on American soil — all from his apartment in Houston.

Authorities said 28-year-old Anas Said was searching for ways to commit violent acts on behalf of the Islamic State in the Houston area. He has been charged with attempting to provide material support to the terrorist group.

Said was arrested last week at the apartment complex where he lived, according to FBI Special Agent in Charge Douglas Williams. 

US FORCES STRIKE 9 IRAN-LINKED MILITIA TARGETS IN SYRIA: ‘OUR MESSAGE IS CLEAR’

FBI Special Agent in Charge Doug Williams addresses the media from the Houston field office on Jan. 19. (Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)

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Williams said that while in custody, Said admitted to researching how to conduct an attack on local military recruiting centers, offering his home as sanctuary for ISIS operatives, bragging that he would commit a “9/11-style” attack if he had the resources and attempting to produce ISIS propaganda.

“We stopped a potential terrorist attack from happening right here in Houston! Any day we can publicly say that is a good day,” FBI Houston said. 

Said is being held in custody but appeared in court for a preliminary hearing on Tuesday, his attorney, Balemar Zuniga, told Fox News Digital. 

“The indictment only alleges that he supported a terrorist group through the production of videos and propaganda,” he said, noting that federal prosecutors mentioned the plotting of terror acts but have not charged him with such. “None of that is alleged.”

READ THE DOJ DETENTION MEMO LAYING OUT ALLEGATIONS AGAINST SAID — APP USERS, CLICK HERE:

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Said has been on the FBI’s radar since the bureau received a tip in 2017 about him purchasing two stickers: “one containing an image of the Dome of the Rock2 with an ISIS flag overlaying the image, and another showing the white silhouette of a man holding a rifle with the caption, “Winning the Islamic Nation.” 

“Does it seem a bit excessive? Yes,” Zuniga said. 

Said was interviewed by the FBI four times in 2018 in relation to the sticker purchases.

“During an interview conducted on or about January 29, 2018, the Defendant admitted both stickers were meant to show support for ISIS,” though he did not support killing in the name of ISIS at the time, according to a detention memo laying out the allegations against Said. Said began supporting the ISIS ideology in 2015 when his family returned to the U.S. from Lebanon.

Said was born in the United States and moved to Lebanon with with family as a child, Zuniga said. He returned to the U.S. in 2014. 

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Despite Said’s alleged crimes, he doesn’t have any negative feelings about the U.S., said Zuniga. 

“I would not say that at all,” he said. “I think that he is certainly passionate about protecting his Islamic religion. I don’t think he has any particular animosity toward the United States itself.”

In a 2019 FBI interview, Said claimed “he no longer consumed radical Islamic propaganda and only used the internet for schoolwork and for watching sports,” according to the memo. 

doj insignia

The Department of Justice seals is seen during a news conference at the DOJ office in Washington, May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

That wasn’t true, according to the DOJ.

“On or about October 18, 2023, pursuant to legal process, FBI received information from Meta Platforms, Inc. (‘Meta’) regarding 11 Facebook accounts used by the Defendant that showed he continued to support ISIS and the violent attacks carried out in its name,” according to the DOJ.

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His family members “expressed their concerns” in FBI interviews, and “subsequent analysis of the Defendant’s electronic devices revealed multiple encrypted messaging applications containing records of his efforts to create and disseminate propaganda that glorified ISIS’s ongoing violence, the evidence underlying the material support offense charged in the indictment,” the department alleged.

Said allegedly refused to comply with FBI agents who executed a search warrant against him last Friday, and he smashed his cellphone.

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Los Angeles, Ca

Knott's Soak City to undergo 'water park refresh' in 2026

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Knott's Soak City to undergo 'water park refresh' in 2026

Knott’s Soak City will soon undergo a “water park refresh” during the 2026 operating season, Six Flags Entertainment Corporation, the parent company of Knott’s, announced on Thursday.

“Knott’s Soak City will receive a water park refresh and aesthetic enhancements,” a news release said, but details on what exactly will be updated or changed weren’t released.

The “refresh” is part of Six Flags Entertainment Corporation’s $1 billion investment to enhance the guest experience.

“Our capital investment plans for the next two years reinforce our commitment to providing unmatched thrills, immersive entertainment and lifelong memories to guests of all ages,” Six Flags president & CEO Richard A. Zimmerman said in a statement. “The new Six Flags has a unique opportunity to refresh and renew the guest experience, one so compelling that a visit to one of our parks will be viewed as an indispensable choice in family entertainment.”

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The $1 billion investment will be used on “new rides, attractions, themed areas, dining upgrades, and technology enhancements,” according to company officials.

Cedar Fair, the former parent company of Knott’s Berry Farm, and Six Flags merged in an $8 billion deal earlier this year.

Company officials said that more information about the water park refresh will be shared in summer 2025.

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Los Angeles, Ca

Two people survive crash-landing in field near Van Nuys Airport

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Two people survive crash-landing in field near Van Nuys Airport

Two people survived a crash landing when their plane went down and overturned in a field near the 405 Freeway in Van Nuys Thursday morning.

Two people, later identified as a man and a woman, safely exited the aircraft after the 1968 Cessna crashed near the 15300 block of West Burbank Boulevard around 7 a.m., the Los Angeles Fire Department stated in a news alert.

Both patients appeared to be okay and declined transport to a hospital, the alert stated.

The plane went down in the Sepulveda Basin area about three miles south of Van Nuys Airport after losing communication with the tower.

The National Transportation Safety Board will be investigating the circumstances around the incident.

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Check back for updates on this developing story.

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Southwest

State education chief ‘on GOP radar’ launches game plan for nixing cabinet department

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State education chief ‘on GOP radar’ launches game plan for nixing cabinet department

EXCLUSIVE – As President-elect Donald Trump privately storyboards his cabinet choices, one top state official who is rumored to be on the shortlist for secretary of education is releasing his game plan for shifting the department’s duties to states and parents, Fox News Digital has learned.

In a memo to Oklahoma parents and school administrators, Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters will state that the federal agency has “hijacked our education system using taxpayer dollars to impose harmful policies and control what’s taught in our schools.”

Some issues Walters said he is bringing to the fore both in the memo and what he is calling a Trump Education Advisory Team to be announced Monday.

The Department of Education is a relatively new stand-alone cabinet agency created under former President Jimmy Carter, which his successor, Ronald Reagan, called to shutter during his 1982 State of the Union.

OKLAHOMA SCHOOLS CHIEF BILLS KAMALA HARRIS $474M FOR COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

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Tenets include ending “social indoctrination” in the classroom and promoting patriotism through curriculum.

In a Friday interview, Walters said the team will organize priorities for schools to be in line with Trump administration education policies, based on what the president-elect has signaled that he will do in that regard.

With the prospect of a shuttered Department of Education, Walters said that he will plan out how to fill any holes left by federal programs and develop legislative recommendations.

At an October rally in Indiana, Pennsylvania, Trump said he is “going to close the Department of Education and move education back to the states.”

“And we’re going to do it fast. We’ll get somebody great [as secretary].” He namedropped former Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y. who had accompanied him, as well as Ohio entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.

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Walters also remains “on Republicans’ radar” in that regard, according to Education Week.

He said on Friday that Democrats failed to challenge Trump on education policy likely because his positions already resonated with the American public, alluding to the recent scholastic controversies in Virginia and elsewhere.

“We’re going to be the tip of the spear in instituting President Trump’s agenda. This is to ensure that we are in complete alignment with the most aggressive, comprehensive and conservative education agenda the country has ever seen,” he said.

Walters said he is confident that Trump will follow through and shutter the agency, and that it will result in increased aptitude among students less burdened by red tape, redundancies to state agencies, and social policy edicts.

STATE SCHOOLS CHIEF DIRECTS MILLIONS TO FUND A BIBLE IN EVERY SCHOOL

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Desks in a classroom. (iStock)

“I mean, President Biden came out in the middle of the summer and told us we had to put boys in girl’s bathrooms,” he said.

Whether Trump ultimately chooses him, Walters said he will remain focused on bringing Oklahoma in-line with Trumpian policies, and creating a roadmap for other states.

Improving education, he added, goes far beyond curriculum and will have lasting impacts on the economy, jobs and more.

“Parents wanted to hear that . . . our schools are not here to tell our kids this is an evil, racist country and building this indoctrination,” he said. “We want to support families and school choice.”

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The transition plan he crafted also depicts how the education system can continue to run without the influence of teachers’ unions that comes with the present top-down system.

DOE building in Washington

The Department of Education building in Washington, D.C.  (Erin Scott/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

He said that American Federation of Teachers boss Randi Weingarten put his picture on a screen after Trump’s during a recent union convention, and that his response was Tuesday’s “definitive win” by pro-school-choice candidates.

“It’s just it’s so exciting to see this agenda come to fruition,” he said. 

In the current Congress, Rep. Barry Moore, R-Ala., also authored a bill abolishing the Department of Education. It was referred to and remains in committee. 

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Fox News Digital reached out to the Trump campaign for information on the cabinet shortlist, as well as to the Department of Education for a response to Walters’ plans. A representative for the latter referred Fox News Digital to the Trump campaign.

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