The accused, a 26-year-old Bosnian immigrant named Nihad Rosic, was arrested Feb. 6, the same day President Obama came to speak at Ivy Tech Community College in Indianapolis.
According to Federal Bureau of Investigation agents based in Indianapolis, Obama was never in any danger, and Rosic was just passing through Indianapolis with no known ties to any local ?organizations.
He is being charged with multiple accounts of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, conspiracy to kill or maim persons in a foreign country and providing material support to terrorists. The main alleged recipient of the funds and supplies that Rosic was sending is the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, a violent radical Islamist group working in the Middle East.
Rosic’s arrest is just one of six recent terrorism-related arrests made throughout the Midwest. Abdullah Ramo Pazara, Ramiz Zjad Hodzic, Sedina Unkic Hodzic, Mediha Medy Salkicevic, Armin Harcevic, Jasminka Ramic and Rosic are all Bosnian immigrants who have been ?arrested in Chicago, St. Louis and Indiana on the same charges.
In recent months there has been a lot of anti-Islamic backlash due to the rise of violent terrorist organizations such as the Islamic State group, and some people are concerned that this arrest will spark anti-Muslim practices in the area.
Patrick Hynds, IU student and resident of Plainfield, is skeptical about any connections this incident has to local organizations and disagrees with any anti-Islamic statements he has heard in ?response to the arrest.
“Without a doubt in my mind I feel that this is an ?isolated incident,” Hynds said. “In no way should it excite a feeling of fear or add to the discourse of Islamophobia that seems to characterize much of the reaction I’ve seen and heard. I don’t believe that it indicates some larger looming threat of domestic ?terrorism.”
Between May 2013 and September of 2014, the six defendants sent an approximated $19,348, both in direct funds and in military supplies, to third party individuals in Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Syria, according to court documents that were filed Feb. 5.
The defendants used a combination of Western Union and PayPal to transfer the funds, and three boxes were sent via the United States Postal Service containing supplies such as U.S. military uniforms, tactical clothing and gear, combat boots and ?military surplus items.
The defendants are being charged with the same counts as Rosic. These charges carry penalties from 15 years for each count and fines up to $250,000. Conspiring to kill and maim persons in a foreign country carries a penalty of up to life in prison.
The defendants were communicating through Facebook, which is ultimately how they were caught in combination with a series of wiretaps and electronic surveillance.
