NEW YORK, USA – New Jersey man arrested for threatening to blow up Trump Tower

© Spencer Platt Image: Trump Tower

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A 20-year-old New Jersey man accused of supporting a terror group and threatening to blow up Trump Tower and the Israeli Consulate in New York City was arrested Wednesday, federal prosecutors said.

Jonathan Xie, 20, of Basking Ridge, about 40 miles outside of Manhattan, is charged with two counts of attempting to provide material support to a designated terrorist organization, two counts of making false statements and one count of transmitting a threat, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey.

Late last month, shortly after FBI surveillance observed Xie outside of Trump Tower in New York City, Xie posted two photos of the building to his Instagram account, the statement said. One had the words “I want to bomb Trump Tower” emblazoned over the photo, and the other was accompanied by “[S]hould I bomb Trump Tower,” a “Yes/No” poll, along with an emoji of a bomb.

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Xie later posted on Instagram: “Okay, so I went to NYC today and passed by Trump Tower and then I started laughing hysterically … s*** I forgot to visit the Israeli embassy in NYC … i want to bomb this place along with trump tower.”

Authorities said Xie had not developed any specific attack plot, but the FBI had been monitoring him long before his visit to New York.

In December of last year, Xie sent $100 to someone in Gaza who he believed to be part of a Hamas faction “that has conducted attacks, to include suicide bombings against civilian targets inside Israel,” according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

“Just donated $100 to Hamas. Pretty sure it was illegal but I don’t give a damn,” he posted on Instagram after.

An FBI employee who was working undercover said Xie sent a link to a website he described as a Hamas website, along with screenshots showing how to use a feature to send donations in Bitcoin to the group. Xie later used the site to send Hamas $20 in Bitcoin to see if the feature worked, prosecutors said.

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And when he was asked in an April Instagram Live video whether he would travel to Gaza and join Hamas, Xie allegedly responded, “If I could find a way.” In the same video, Xi showed off a Hamas flag and a handgun.

Later in the video, he said, “I’m gonna go to the [expletive] pro-Israel march and I’m going to shoot everybody.”

“I want to shoot the pro-israel demonstrators … you can get a gun and shoot your way through or use a vehicle and ram people … all you need is a gun or vehicle to go on a rampage … I do not care if security forces come after me,” Xie said in following videos, according to prosecutors. “They will have to put a bullet in my head to stop me.”

Earlier in the year Xie had stated he wanted to join the U.S. Army “to learn how to kill… So I can use that knowledge,'” according to prosecutors. “Idk [I don’t know] if I pass the training…If I should do lone wolf. That is why I have to learn military techniques from the Army,” he continued.

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© U.S. Attorney’s Office Image: A screenshot of an Instagram post by Jonathan Xie.

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He followed through and completed a Security Clearance Application for National Security Positions. On two applications, he answered “no” to the question, “Have you EVER associated with anyone involved in activities to further terrorism?”

Investigators also uncovered a YouTube account belonging to Xie, “many of which advocated or propagandized Soldiers for Allah, the war in Syria, Hezbollah (a foreign terrorist organization), and the Houthi movement in Yemen, as well as support for Bashar al Assad, Saddam Hussein, and North Korea,” prosecutors said.

“Homegrown violent extremists like Xie are a serious threat to national security,” U.S. Attorney Carpenito said in the statement Wednesday. “The actions that he took and planned to take made that threat both clear and present.”

“We will continue to do everything in our power to safeguard our country and its citizens from the threat of terrorism, whether that threat comes from abroad or — as here — from within,” Carpenito added.

Xie was due in federal court in New Jersey at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

If convicted on all counts, Xie could face up to 61 years of prison and more than $1 million in fines. /

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