2 California residents among 3 arrested in alleged ISIS support plot
Three U.S. citizens, including two California residents, have been arrested by the FBI in connection with an alleged plot to support ISIS.
The men were identified by the Department of Justice as Bisaam Ghafoor, 21, of Leawood, Kansas; Elias Shamsaldeen, 21, of Porterville, California; and Bereen Dzayee, 25, of Lakeside, California.
The DOJ alleges the men discussed violent attacks and tried to put together a cryptocurrency scheme that would have funded weapons to attack U.S. soldiers.
U.S. officials also allege the men pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and discussed wanting to leave the U.S. to fight for ISIS.
"These subjects allegedly swore allegiance to ISIS, plotted multiple attacks, and even targeted U.S. service members — but this FBI stopped them cold," FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement.
According to the complaint, the men allegedly began communicating around February 2025 with someone they believed to be an ISIS member. Prosecutors allege those communications continued through June 2026 as the men discussed plans to support the terror group.
Among the messages, prosecutors allege Ghafoor said he wished to behead a female soldier and stated, "I wish I could kill 300,000,000 Americans."
"Thanks to the work of the FBI, their plans to betray their country in the gravest way lies in ruin. Instead, these defendants will face justice in our courts," Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said in a statement.
In total, the DOJ said the men gave more than $2,000 to the person they believed to be an ISIS member.
All three men were arrested Friday morning in operations in Kansas City, San Diego and Sacramento, according to the FBI.
