The FBI arrested three men Friday in Kansas and California after they allegedly conspired to provide material support to ISIS, including money they believed would fund drone strikes and rocket-propelled grenade attacks targeting American service members overseas, Fox News reported.
Bisaam Ghafoor, 21, of Leawood, Kansas; Elias Shamsaldeen, 21, of Porterville, California; and Bereen Dzayee, 25, of Lakeside, California, were taken into custody on a complaint filed in the District of Kansas. The Department of Justice said the three collectively provided more than $2,000 to a person they understood to be an ISIS member.
The alleged plot stretched from February 2025 through approximately June 2026, during which time the suspects communicated through Discord chats, voice calls, and other messaging platforms about plans to support the designated foreign terrorist organization, through money, personnel, and services. Court documents paint a picture of young men living inside the United States who allegedly pledged allegiance to ISIS and its leader while openly discussing ways to harm the country they called home.
The complaint’s details are graphic and specific. Ghafoor allegedly told associates it would be “sick” if his name could be written on a drone used in an attack on Americans. Officials said his name was, in fact, written on the projectile of a rocket-propelled grenade planned for use in an overseas attack to kill U.S. service members.
Court documents say Ghafoor confessed to having always wanted to kill a female soldier by beheading. He allegedly added: “I wish I could kill 300,000,000 Americans.”
That figure, 300 million, is roughly the entire population of the United States. It is the kind of statement that, if proven, goes well beyond ideological sympathy and into something far more chilling.
Shamsaldeen allegedly provided financial resources for the purpose of purchasing drones to attack and kill U.S. service members deployed overseas. Court documents note he “expressed a desire” to stab and injure a U.S. service member. Dzayee, the oldest of the three at 25, allegedly suggested that targets of the drones should include U.S. Special Forces.
The DOJ also said the suspects and others communicated their desires to travel outside the United States to fight on behalf of ISIS. In some of those communications, officials said, the suspects expressed willingness to die on behalf of the terrorist group.
The Washington Examiner reported that prosecutors allege the men planned to use cryptocurrency donations to help buy RPGs and drones for attacks against U.S. service members. The use of crypto as a financing mechanism adds a layer to the case that federal investigators have increasingly confronted in terrorism and other criminal networks.
The FBI has ramped up its focus on digital financial crime in recent months. In a separate operation, the bureau seized a record $8 billion in cryptocurrency during a global crackdown on criminal compounds, a reminder that the same tools that promise financial freedom can also serve as pipelines for those who wish Americans harm.
The more than $2,000 allegedly sent by the three suspects may sound modest. But in the context of ISIS operations overseas, where a single weaponized drone can be assembled cheaply, even small sums can translate into lethal capability against American troops in the field.
The investigation spanned multiple FBI field offices and Joint Terrorism Task Forces. The Kansas City, San Diego, and Sacramento JTTF offices led the cases, with assistance from FBI field offices in Richmond and Newark.
FBI Director Kash Patel framed the arrests as proof that the bureau’s counterterrorism apparatus remains effective. He credited the multi-office coordination directly:
“The success of this op shows once again this FBI’s continued record of stopping terrorist attacks before they happen, simply the best way to defend the homeland, and shows we’ll stop at nothing to defend Americans from those who seek to do us harm. I want to thank our teams in Kansas City, San Diego, Sacramento, Newark and Richmond, and the Counterterrorism Division for their outstanding efforts on this investigation and commitment to mission.”
Patel also said bluntly: “This FBI stopped them cold.”
The FBI’s recent track record of large-scale operations reinforces the point. The bureau has arrested more than 350 alleged child sex abuse offenders in a sweeping nationwide operation, demonstrating a pattern of aggressive, coordinated federal enforcement across jurisdictions.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a statement tying the arrests to a broader enforcement posture. As Just The News reported, Blanche said the case reflects the administration’s commitment to dismantling terrorist networks wherever they operate:
“Today’s arrest of three individuals who allegedly conspired to provide material support to ISIS makes clear our commitment to taking down terrorist networks, anywhere. Thanks to the vigilance of the FBI, their alleged scheme was dismantled and further acts of violence against U.S. service members were prevented.”
Blanche added: “This administration has put terrorists, cartels, and gangs on notice.”
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg, cited by the Washington Examiner, offered a sharper formulation: “Thanks to the work of the FBI, their plans to betray their country in the gravest way lies in ruin. Instead, these defendants will face justice in our courts.”
That word, “betray”, carries weight. All three suspects are described as U.S. nationals. They were not foreign operatives smuggled across a border. They lived in Kansas suburbs and California towns, allegedly using American platforms and American financial systems to fund attacks on American troops.
U.S. Attorney Ryan Kriegshauser for the District of Kansas addressed that reality head-on:
“That’s because long gone are the days where terrorist threats and attacks are incidents that only take place far away on foreign soil. Unfortunately, we must face the reality of bad actors living within our borders clandestinely conspiring on ways to create fear and havoc. The only way to root out and prevent terrorism plots is through collaboration among all levels of law enforcement and across jurisdictions. Collaboration is which is what facilitated the arrests of these three suspects.”
Kriegshauser said the DOJ has encouraged Americans for years to report suspicious activity to law enforcement. The implication is clear: the threat is not abstract, and citizens play a role in identifying it.
The case also fits a broader pattern of the FBI confronting national security threats that originate on U.S. soil. The bureau recently posted a $200,000 reward for a former Air Force intelligence agent accused of spying for Iran, another case where the threat came from inside the house.
The suspects allegedly exchanged messages in social media groups promoting violence in furtherance of ISIS. They used Discord, voice calls, and other messaging platforms. The digital trail, combined with the financial transfers, gave investigators what they needed to move before any overseas attack materialized.
Several details remain unclear. The specific statutes charged in the complaint have not been publicly identified in available reporting. Whether the suspects have retained attorneys or entered pleas is unknown. Court documents reference communications running through approximately June 2026, a timeline detail that raises questions about the scope and duration of the investigation.
It is also not yet clear whether the person who received the more than $2,000 was an actual ISIS operative or an undercover agent, a distinction that could shape the legal proceedings ahead.
The FBI has also been active in other high-profile investigative work. In one recent case, agents concluded that a Brown University gunman had plotted a massacre for years, a reminder of how long-running investigations can uncover the full scope of planned violence.
Three young men, all living in the United States, allegedly pledged allegiance to a foreign terrorist organization, sent money they believed would arm attacks on American troops, and expressed desires to personally harm and kill U.S. service members. One allegedly fantasized about killing 300 million Americans. Another allegedly wanted his name on the weapon.
The FBI says it stopped them before any of it went further. The arrests were made. The complaint is filed. The legal process now takes over.
When the threat lives next door and plots on Discord, the only thing standing between allegiance and action is a law enforcement apparatus willing to treat the danger as real. In this case, it did.
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