NJ man inspired by Hamas attack tried to join al-Shabaab, feds say

A New Jersey man who prosecutors say was “devoted … to waging violent jihad against America” and galvanized by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack against Israel, was busted in Kenya earlier this month while en route to join Somalia-based Islamist terror group al-Shabaab, authorities said Friday.

Karrem Nasr, 23, of Lawrenceville, faces up to 20 years in prison after Manhattan federal prosecutors charged him with a single count of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.

“Nasr, a citizen of this country, traveled from Egypt to Kenya bent on joining and training with al Shabab [sic] so that he could execute his jihadist mission of death and destruction,” US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said Friday.

“Nasr was prepared to kill and be killed to support the jihadist cause, and in his own words, he described America as ‘evil’ and the ‘head of the snake,’” he added.

Nasr had moved to Egypt in July to study Arabic and became “particularly motivated to become a jihadi” after Hamas killed more than 1,200 people — including at least 33 Americans — in its October assault on southern Israel, FBI special agent Bilal Morgan wrote in court documents.

“In recent public social media posts, Nasr warned that ‘Jihad’ was ‘coming soon to a US location near you,’ posting airplane, bomb, and fire emojis,” Morgan wrote. “Nasr expressed his intent to join al Shabaab [sic] to receive military training and engage in jihad; that he was prepared to kill and be killed; and that he specifically aspired to be a martyr for the jihadi cause.”

Nasr planned to meet members of al-Shabaab, which has links to Al Qaeda, during his Kenya trip after engaging with an FBI source posing as a facilitator for terrorist organizations last month.

“After the Oct. 7 events, I felt that something has changed [for] the better, I mean,” Nasr reportedly told the source. “I felt that pride and dignity came back to the Muslims.”

Nasr further referenced the recent online spread of Osama bin Laden’s 2002 “Letter to America,” which garnered attention among TikTok users who claimed they had never heard of Al Qaeda’s complaints about the conflict between Israel and Palestinians.

“I do not know if you follow the news in the West, but there are a lot of people now in America, not Muslims, just reading the letter from Sheikh [Osama] bin Laden …” Nasr told the source, according to court documents. “And there are a lot of people, because of this letter, [who] have completely changed their opinion on him, and they finally understand how evil America is.” 

Nasr reportedly offered to “write for any group that he joined” because he “could write well and knew how to translate,” adding that he also “wanted to train to ‘shoot’ with any [terror] group he joined,” Morgan wrote.

The defendant originally planned to meet the jihadists in Kenya in January, but Nasr told the source he accelerated his plans after learning his mother was visiting from the US in mid-December and wanted to take him “back to America to continue my education and work.”

“Parents nowadays have no interest in religion and they do not want their children to be mujahideen,” he told the source, noting that his mother did not know of his intentions to join al-Shabaab. “They want their children to see life, be doctors, engineers and make a lot of money.”

Nasr was ultimately arrested by Kenyan authorities after his arrival in Nairobi Dec. 14, investigators said.

NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban said in a statement that “the provision of support to such a group – particularly by an American citizen – is a heinous threat to our entire country and way of life.”

“Instead of embracing all that the United States had to offer him, Mr. Nasr allegedly moved abroad and committed himself to supporting a foreign terrorist organization,” he said.

“In the face of this, NYPD investigators and our law enforcement partners on the FBI-led New York Joint Terrorism Task Force will remain relentless in our efforts to identify and investigate anyone who so clearly considers our nation their sworn enemy.”