Afghan who entered U.S. under Biden’s ‘parole’ pleads guilty to terror plot

Nasir Tawhedi, an Afghan man who came to the U.S. as part of President Biden’s massive airlift in 2021, agreed to plead guilty to charges of assisting a terrorist organization and attempting to obtain weapons ahead of a planned attack on Election Day last year.

Tawhedi, who now awaits sentencing, admitted to attempting to buy two AK-47 rifles and 500 rounds of ammunition with the intent “to carry out an Election Day attack.” He admitted that he did that as part of an effort to aid the Islamic State, or ISIS.

He agreed to be deported after serving his time.

Tawhedi, 27, was part of the massive wave of Afghans the Biden administration allowed into the U.S. in 2021 as Kabul fell to the Taliban.

He was granted parole, which the Biden administration used to welcome tens of thousands of Afghans and nearly 3 million people total.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said he had pledged allegiance to ISIS and betrayed “the nation that gave him refuge.”

“Today’s guilty plea guarantees he will be held accountable, stripped of his immigration status and permanently removed from the United States,” she said. 

FBI Director Kash Patel said the prosecution should “serve as notice” to others who would plot attacks on the U.S.

“We will find you and you’ll face American justice,” he said.

Another Afghan man, Abdullah Haji Zada, 18, pleaded guilty in April to being part of the conspiracy. He admitted that he and Tawhedi received two AK-47-style rifles and the ammunition with the intent to use them for the Election Day plot.

They both pleaded guilty in federal court in Oklahoma City.

Zada, who was 17 at the time of his arrest, was a legal permanent resident.

Tawhedi’s case is particularly troubling given his arrival during the Afghan airlift, which saw tens of thousands of people flown out of Kabul with less-than-full vetting.

The Justice Department inspector general, in a report this month, reported that more than 80 Afghans were on the FBI’s terror watch list when they were resettled in the U.S. or were added after they arrived.

The inspector general said the FBI has managed to clear most of them as dangers, though as of last year agents were still monitoring some of them.

The report pointed out that Tawhedi was not one of those flagged, yet he still ended up radicalizing and pledging fealty to ISIS.

Once agents did tip to him, they found plenty of evidence of his ISIS ties on his phone.

That included sharing information about an ISIS recruiter; donations to a charity that the FBI said “fronts for and funnels money to ISIS”; and a video of Tawhedi reading about martyrdom to his 1-year-old daughter and a nephew.

The FBI arranged to sell weapons to Tawhedi as proof he was serious in his attempt to conduct the Election Day mass attack.