'Islamist Extremism' Motivated Man Who Stabbed, Shot NYPD: Feds

BROOKLYN, NY — A Brooklyn man who violently attacked NYPD officers in June was motivated by "Islamist extremism" and had a history of supporting ISIS through the dark web, new court documents claim.

Dzenan Camovic, a Bosnian national, was indicted Wednesday on state and federal charges stemming from the June 3 attack, when he stabbed an officer in the neck, took his gun and then opened fire on cops at a Brooklyn street corner in Flatbush, authorities said.

Investigators later found that Camovic — who yelled an Arabic expression meaning "God is the greatest” during the attack — had been following the Islamic State and other terrorist groups for months, prosecutors said.

“As fellow Americans were exercising their rights to demonstrate, these brave law enforcement officers were brutally attacked to further a violent agenda associated with ISIS and al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula," FBI Director Christopher A. Wray said.

Camovic, 21, faces at least a dozen charges from federal officials and the state, including attempted aggravated murder, first-degree attempted murder and four federal weapons charges.

He was arrested shortly after the incident — which U.S. Attorney General William Barr called a "violent Islamist extremist attack" — and is being held without bail, prosecutors said.

The attack came as NYPD officers were stationed throughout the five boroughs during a city-imposed curfew following protests over the death of George Floyd, authorities said.

Camovic spotted two of those officers, Officer Yayon Frantz Jean Pierre and Officer Randy Ramnarine, standing near Flatbush Avenue and Church Avenue just before midnight that night, prosecutors said.

He crouched watching the cops for eight minutes before texting a friend "I'll be a while" and circling the block so he could approach them from behind, according to the indictment.

Camovic then took out a knife and stabbed Pierre in the neck, "violently lunging" with the blade at Ramnarine, who began yelling and took out his gun, according to video and authorities.

Camovic eventually ripped Pierre's gun from him and began shooting at the cops, including two other officers who had responded. The officers returned fire, prosecutors said.

When the gun smoke settled, the ground was littered with at least 22 shell casings, Camovic suffered critical gunshot wounds and two officers were shot in their hands, in addition to their comrade with a knife wound to his neck.

Camovic was brought to the hospital, where prosecutors said he told a doctor "that he had killed two police officers and 'my religion made me do it.'"

Investigators found Camovic's "jihadist materials" when searching his home, including references to the official magazine of ISIS, an ISIS-style flag image and videos of lectures from al-Qaeda leaders. A source told investigators Camovic had been interested in ISIS and other terrorist groups for at least a year, prosecutors said.

Camovic had tried to hide his online activity with apps associated with the "dark web" and other encrypted messaging platforms, prosecutors said.

"...The defendant’s access to the dark web and his use of encrypted communication platforms has created evidentiary roadblocks to fully learning his plans and who he discussed them with," U.S. Attorney General William Barr said.

"If not for the heroism and bravery of the responding NYPD officers who returned fire and took the assailant down early in the attack, untold additional officers and innocents could have been killed or injured."

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