Virginia College Student Accused of Plotting a Bombing Attack in New York City

Mar. 15, 2025

Photo:Selcuk Acar/Anadolu Agency via Getty

Selcuk Acar/Anadolu Agency via Getty

Federal prosecutors have charged a Virginia college student with plotting to attack the Israeli Consulate building in New York.

Abdullah Ezzeldin Taha Mohamed Hassan, an 18-year-old freshman at George Mason University originally from Egypt, was arrested on Tuesday and faces charges related to distributing information relating to explosives, destructive devices, and weapons of mass destruction, as part of an alleged plot to blow up the consular office, per a criminal complaint filed in the Eastern District of Virginia.

After the informant allegedly shared a pro-ISIS video calling for the killing of Jews, prosecutors say he “pledged allegiance” to ISIS and called Hassan his “emir,” adding that he was “waiting on Hassan’s direction.”

Hassan would later learn the informant was in New York, which he allegedly described as a “goldmine of targets,” and suggested he attack the Israeli Consulate General, near the United Nations in Manhattan, because it represented the Jewish people, reads the affidavit.

Hassan would allegedly send the informant links for purchasing firearms and ball bearings for bombs, instructing him to pay in cryptocurrency. Prosecutors say Hassan also gave instructions on surveilling the target and recording a “martyrdom” video before the attack to explain his actions .

He also allegedly instructed him to have flight tickets ready to a country that doesn’t have an extradition treaty with the United States.

A message to Hassan’s lawyer with the Federal Defenders was not immediately returned.

Hassan has been banned from George Mason’s campus, although disciplinary action has not yet been taken, university president Gregory Washington said in a letter to students.

source: people.com