A radicalized Queens man who plotted a terrorist attack on Big Apple bridges and promenades on behalf of the Islamic State group in 2019 has been sentenced to nine years in prison, according to authorities.
Awais Chudhary, 25, was handed the sentence by United States District Judge Carol Bagley Amon on Tuesday for attempting to provide material support to ISIS, a designated foreign terrorist organization, the US Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of New York announced in a statement.
The terrorist wannabe pleaded guilty to the charges in June.
Chudhary, a Pakistan-born US citizen, became radicalized by watching and sharing violent content online, including knife attacks and beheadings, for more than 16 months while he was merely a braces-wearing teen living with his devout Muslim family.
He then pledged allegiance to ISIS’s then-leader, Abu Bakr al‑Baghdadi, and began to plan a knife or a bomb attack on behalf of the group, authorities said.
Chudhary, who was 19 at the time, planned to strike at the Dunkin’ Donuts just blocks from his East Elmhurst home, pedestrian bridges over the Grand Central Parkway, the Flushing Bay Promenade, and the World’s Fair Marina, prosecutors said in court papers at the time.
He conducted several reconnaissance trips to the popular destinations and made video recordings of the areas he intended to attack, authorities added.
The radicalized teen sought guidance from people he believed to be ISIS supporters, asking them for advice on what knife to use and how to avoid being caught by law enforcement by not leaving “traces of fingerprints [or] DNA,” prosecutors said.
He even sent a screenshot of an ISIS propaganda magazine, including a diagram of a human body depicting where to stab victims with a knife.
In preparation for the lethal attacks, Chudhary ordered a tactical knife, a mask, gloves and a cellphone chest and head-strap to help him record the attack.
He was arrested while attempting to retrieve the items from an online retailer’s locker in Queens.
Chudhary also helped recruit English-speaking internet users to ISIS’s violent cause, working with another ISIS member — who was separately convicted of material support charges — to translate the group’s propaganda materials into English, authorities added.
“Awais Chudhary pledged allegiance to a brutal terrorist organization and set out to kill American citizens,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement.
“Our prosecutors have ensured that he will spend years behind bars for his crimes, and the Department of Justice will continue to protect the American people from all threats, foreign and domestic,” Bondi said.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch also thanked the justice system and investigators for halting the intended mass casualty.
“Awais Chudhary pledged allegiance to a foreign terrorist organization, actively helped to recruit individuals to join ISIS, and planned to commit a mass knife attack in Queens,” NYPD Commissioner Tisch said in a statement.
“Chudhary’s plan to cause terror was stopped because of the women and men in law enforcement — and today, our justice system is holding him accountable,” Tisch said.
“I would like to thank our NYPD investigators as well as our partners at the FBI and the US Attorney’s Office for their work hard work and determination.”
with Post wires
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