The College Fix

University says ‘no connection’ to raid on GMU pro-Palestinian student leaders’ home in November

A freshman at George Mason University is in federal custody after he allegedly plotted a “mass casualty attack” on the Israeli consulate in New York, according to the FBI.

The student, Abdullah Ezzeldin Taha Mohamed Hassan (pictured), 18, faces a number of federal charges and is being deported back to his home country of Egypt, CNN reports.

“Although the student did not live on campus, he has been barred from entering university property,” university President Gregory Washington said in a statement Thursday on the Virginia institution’s website.

Washington said campus leaders learned of Hassan’s arrest Tuesday, and plan to bring code of conduct violations against him.

“… so far [Hassan] appears to have no connection to an earlier police action involving two George Mason students whose home was searched in November,” he stated.

During the November raid, police said they found firearms, ammunition, and a “death to Jews” sign in the home of Jena and Noor Chanaa, sisters who help lead the university’s Students for Justice in Palestine group, The College Fix reported at the time.

In Hassan’s case, a court document filed Monday show the FBI began investigating the 18-year-old after receiving a tip about his “radical and terrorist-leaning behavior” on X.

An information technology major, Hassan posted content “revering” terrorist leaders like Osama bin Laden and “promoted violence against Jews,” according to the document.

Later, in a conversation with an undercover FBI agent, Hassan allegedly plotted an attack on the U.S. Israeli consulate, CNN reports:

An undercover FBI informant posing as an extremist later began communicating with Hassan, who allegedly “recruited” the informant “to conduct a mass casualty attack” and over the course of several days in mid-November sent the informant information, including the address of the Consulate General of Israel in New York, bomb-making instructions and links to purchase cartridges and a rifle to carry out the attack, according to the affidavit.

In a series of November communications, he also sent a pro-ISIS video calling for “the killing of Jews” to the agent, and encouraged the agent to “aim for government buildings, use a Zastava rifle,” according to the court document.

Hassan “faces a slew of federal charges tied to distributing information related to explosives, destructive devices and weapons of mass destruction and the intent to murder internationally protected persons,” according to CNN.

Earlier this year, a Cornell University student also was sentenced to 21 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to threatening to shoot Jewish students, The Fix reported.

MORE: Police find ammo, ‘death to Jews’ sign at George Mason student leaders’ home

IMAGE: Alexandria Sheriff’s Office/WJLA

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