Pictured: Fabjan Alameti, 21, who records show spent years in the Bronx before moving to Montana last month, was charged Thursday with making false statements regarding domestic and international terrorism, as well as gun and drug possession, officials said. Credit: Missoula County Sheriff's Office
A longtime Bronx resident was arrested Thursday after he allegedly discussed joining ISIS and attacking U.S. targets in retaliation for the recent killings at a New Zealand mosque, authorities said.
Fabjan Alameti, 21, who records show spent years in the Bronx before traveling to Montana last month, was charged Thursday with making false statements regarding domestic and international terrorism, as well as gun and drug possession, officials said.
He’d initially been interviewed by the FBI at his home in the Bronx in May 2018, court records show.
Pictured: Fabjan Alameti’s Twitter page.
Alameti was taken into custody inside a Montana gun range, where he’d just rented an M1A rifle for target practice, authorities said.
Before his arrest, Alameti allegedly spoke with a federal informant about joining ISIS and fighting alongside them in Syria and Iraq, in addition to discussing a possible attack on a U.S. military recruitment center, military facility, government building, Jewish synagogue, or “gay club,” the FBI said in court filings.
Later, Alametti said he would not carry out attack in the U.S. because the government had granted him citizenship, records show. Alametti was born in Albania, officials said.
Authorities said he boarded a bus from New York to Bozeman, Montana on March 15 – the day of the Christchurch mosque that killed 50 worshipers – because he hated his life in the city, was having issues with his family, and had a job interview scheduled in Montana. He also said it would be easier to purchase a gun there, authorities said.
After the mosque shooting, Alameti allegedly asked the federal informant to send him a link to viral video of the attack and said: “I will attack random people to avenge the blood,” according to the FBI.
He also made pro-ISIS comments on Facebook, discussed procuring explosives, and said he wanted to “shoot up” a Montana hotel that had kicked him out for using marijuana, authorities said.
On one Alameti’s two Twitter accounts, dormant since 2013, he wrote to rap stars like Diddy and Eminem, telling them he was an aspiring rapper who wanted critiques of his music.
His attorney could not immediately be reached for comment.
A U.S. Magistrate Judge ordered Alametti remain in federal custody Thursday pending addition court proceedings.
The NYPD was also involved in the investigation, officials said.
Kevin Deutsch is a Staff Writer for Bronx Justice News covering the criminal justice system, drugs, and DNA use by law enforcement. An award-winning journalist, Deutsch is the author of the true crime books "Pill City" and "The Triangle." He has worked on staff at the Daily News, Miami Herald, Newsday, The Palm Beach Post, and The Riverdale Press. His work has also appeared in Newsweek, Columbia Journalism Review, The New York Times, The Village Voice, The Forward, The Independent, Huffington Post, Orlando Sentinel, and the New York Post, among other publications. His numerous television appearances include spots on CNN, MSNBC, and C-SPAN's BookTV. He has also been featured in The New Yorker. A Bronx resident, Deutsch hosts the true crime podcast "A Dark Turn" on the Authors on the Air Global Radio Network.
