ISIS in D.C.? This Shutterbug was No Tourist, Says FBI

Alexandria, VA – It's tourist season in the Washington, D.C., area, and along with it comes countless shutterbugs snapping photos of all the usual landmarks — a time-honored tradition that allegedly turned decidedly sinister late last week.

Northern Virginia resident Haris Qamar, 25, of Burke, was arrested Friday morning on charges of attempting to provide material support and resources to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced.

Qamar is scheduled to have his initial appearance Friday in front of Magistrate Judge John F. Anderson at 2 p.m. at the federal courthouse in Alexandria.

Officials say that on May 26, Qamar and an FBI confidential witness discussed ISIL’s need of photos of possible targets in and around D.C. for use in a video that ISIL was purportedly making to encourage lone- wolf attacks in the area.

Qamar allegedly offered the witness ideas of where to take these photographs, including the Pentagon and numerous landmarks in Arlington and D.C., which could be targeted for terrorist attacks, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

On June 3, a conversation was audio and video recorded when the witness picked up Qamar in a vehicle and they drove to area landmarks on the list Qamar had developed, the Justice Department said. Qamar allegedly said “bye bye DC, stupid ass kufar, kill’em all.” Qamar and the confidential witness met again on June 10 and drove to a location in Arlington to take additional photos for the ISIL video.

The FBI first learned of Qamar as he operated more than 60 variations of the Twitter handle “newerajihadi,” which Qamar used to express his support of ISIL and share videos and photos of extreme violence, including beheadings and mass shootings, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. For example, after terrorists murdered employees of the Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris in January 2015, Qamar tweeted his prayer for another similar attack with even more casualties.

This is the second high-profile arrest of an ISIS supporter in the D.C. metro area. On July 2, FBI agents apprehended Mohamad Bailor Jalloh after the man purchased a gun at a Chantilly, Virginia, gun shop with plans to facilitate a terrorist attack.

Also under surveillance through an FBI informant, Jalloh was arrested after purchasing the assault rifle at a gun shop. Unaware he was being monitored, Jalloh purchased a gun that had been made inoperable, according to law enforcement.