3 Brooklyn men arrested for attempting to join ISIS

© Sketches by Christine Cornell/From CNN

Three men — identified as Abdurasul Jaraboev, 24; Akhror Saidakhmetov, 19; and Abror Habibov, 30 — were arrested in New York and Florida, according to a complaint unsealed in federal court in Brooklyn, New York. They face charges that include attempting and conspiring to provide material support and resources to a foreign terrorist organization, the complaint said.

Two men were arrested yesterday in New York as they prepared to join Islamic State militants in Syria, while a third man was arrested in Florida for helping to fund their efforts, after they boasted of their plans on the Internet, federal investigators said.

The three, all immigrants from central Asia who live in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, plotted to launch attacks in the United States if they were prevented from joining the extremist group, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn.

One of the men repeatedly offered to assassinate President Barack Obama if ordered to do so by the Islamic State group, according to the complaint.

Akhror Saidakhmetov, 19, a citizen of Kazakhstan, was arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport as he tried to board a flight to Istanbul on his way to Syria, the FBI said.

In conversations secretly recorded by the FBI, Saidakhmetov said he might try to force the flight to divert "so that the Islamic State would gain a plane," the complaint said.

He also said if he failed to reach Syria, he was prepared to join the military to kill U.S. soldiers, plant a bomb on Coney Island in Brooklyn or shoot FBI agents and New York police, the complaint said.

"We will go and purchase one handgun ... then go and shoot one police officer," he said in one wiretapped call, according to the complaint. "Boom ... Then we will take his gun, bullets and a bulletproof vest ... then we will do the same with a couple of others. Then we will go to the FBI headquarters, kill the FBI people."

Also arrested was Abdurasul Hasanovich Juraboev, 24, a citizen of Uzbekistan. Authorities said he purchased a ticket to Istanbul and planned to follow Saidakhmetov to Syria.

Abror Habibov, 30, also of Uzbekistan, gave the two money to help them fly to Turkey to join Islamic State, the complaint alleges. Habibov, who owns kiosks in retail malls in several states, was arrested in Jacksonville, Fla.

About 20,000 foreign fighters have joined Islamic State and other Sunni Muslim militant groups in Syria and Iraq, including several thousand Europeans and about 100 Americans, according to U.S. estimates. About a dozen Americans are believed to be fighting on behalf of Islamic State.

According to the complaint, U.S. investigators began tracking the men in August after Juraboev posted a note on an Uzbek language website that sought recruits for Islamic State, offering to shoot Obama if the extremist group ordered him to do so.

"That will strike fear in the hearts of infidels," the note states, according to the complaint. Juraboev repeated his pledge to "execute Obama" in an email that month to another Islamic State website, the complaint said. FBI Special Agent Ryan Singer wrote in the criminal complaint that agents first interviewed Juraboev in August and he openly discussed plans not only to join Islamic State but to kill Obama.

The investigation spread to Saidakhmetov, and wiretaps were approved to pick up the two men's conversations. The FBI also placed a confidential informant inside the group, who befriended Juraboev.

At one point, Saidakhmetov offered to join the U.S. military so he could pass information to Islamic State "to help in their attacks," according to the complaint. Barring that, he said, he " could always open fire on American soldiers and kill as many of them as possible."

The three were each charged with attempting to provide and conspiracy to provide material support to Islamic State.

All three made initial appearances in court but did not enter pleas.