South Carolina man, 34, pleads guilty in 'Netflix-worthy terror plot' to bomb the White House and Trump Tower in support of ISIS
A South Carolina man has pleaded guilty to a terror charge for plotting to bomb or shoot up the White House, Trump Tower and the New York Stock Exchange in 'Netflix-worthy' attacks inspired by ISIS.
Kristopher Matthews, 34, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a conspiracy charge to provide material support to Islamic State in a hearing before a US magistrate judge in San Antonio, Texas.
Matthews, also known as Ali Jibreel, acknowledged that since May 2019, he had conspired with 22-year-old Jaylyn Molina of Cost, Texas, to share bomb-making information for the purposes of domestic and foreign attacks on behalf of ISIS, and to radicalize and recruit other individuals to support the Islamic militant organization.
Kristopher Matthews, 34 , pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a federal conspiracy charge to provide material support to ISIS. His alleged accomplice, Jaylyn Molina, 22 , faces counts of conspiracy and providing material support to a terrorist organization
The pair allegedly plotted to bomb or shoot up public sites on US soil in the name of ISIS, including the White House
The FBI said it intercepted communications between Matthews and Molina, which showed them planning an attack in the name of ISIS.
Matthews suggested it would be better to attack government centers rather than places like 'malls where innocent children are'.
He proposed targeting Trump Tower in New York City and the New York Stock Exchange - hoping the sites would give the pair 'rock star status, baby'.
He said he thought a series attacks across the U.S. 'could be Netflix worthy.'
The two men also allegedly discussed the possibility of traveling overseas to join ISIS.
Matthews was accused of being the mastermind of the plot, having last year used an encrypted chat service to find an ISIS supporter outside the U.S. who would help him travel to Syria and recruit additional ISIS supporters.
Another site on the pair's list of potential targets was Trump Tower in New York City
In April, Molina, also known as Abdur Rahim, allegedly joined the chat, and began communicating with Matthews, soon posting a manual on how to train with an AK-47.
The pair allegedly shared ISIS propaganda videos, unaware that they were being tracked online.
Molina wrote on social media that America was his enemy, according to court documents, and posted an extremely graphic photo collage of an American citizen being murdered by ISIS members.
In May, he allegedly posted images in the encrypted chat that provided bomb-making instructions.
That same month in the same encrypted chat, the two men discussed where attacks on US soil would take place.
Matthews said he wanted to avoid killing children, and preferred attacking sites such as government buildings, including CIA headquarters, the FBI and DEA headquarters.
Molina allegedly told Matthews: 'we need to stick together, we need to defeat them, we need to take a lot of casualties.'
Matthews proposed targeting the New York Stock Exchange, hoping it would give him and Molina 'rock star status'
As recently as August, Molina and Matthews allegedly said in the encrypted chat that they could use a 'multi wave attack strategy' to carry out the attacks.
A grand jury indicted Molina and Matthews on October 14 each with one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization and one count of providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.
Matthews faces up to 20 years in federal prison when he is sentenced on March 4. He remains in federal custody.
Molina faces up to 40 years in federal prison if convicted.