Feds: Ozone Park man tried to join Islamic State

An Ozone Park man was charged in Brooklyn federal court on Tuesday with traveling to Saudi Arabia and trying to find a way to cross into Syria and join the Islamic State.

Prosecutors said that Parveg Ahmed, 22, of Queens, had made social media postings in 2014 indicating sympathy for ISIS, saying that “USA are the real terrorists” and, “The only country still working in reverence to the Almighty is the Islamic State.”

In June, a federal complaint said, Ahmed traveled to Saudi Arabia and then to an unnamed country bordering Syria where he was detained. A companion said he proselytized in favor of ISIS, and Ahmed’s phone included an unsent and typo-laden message that had apparently been prepared for sending after he reached Syria, the government said.

“[W]e have made it to Dawlanrl Islam [ISIS] in Syria,” the message allegedly said. “ln sha Allah [God willing] we will join the Jihad very soon and in Sha Altah [God willing] we will then join the ranks of the shuhuda [martyrs]. The west has invaded the land of the Muslims and is constantly attacking it.”

The phone also included messages that had been sent trying to make arrangements for reaching ISIS territories, and an unsent farewell to Ahmed’s family, the complaint said.

Ahmed was deported to the United States on Monday. He is charged with attempting to provide material support to ISIS, He was detained after a brief appearance in federal court in Brooklyn on Tuesday afternoon.