HANOVER, Md. — An Anne Arundel County man is charged with plotting to fight for ISIS in Africa, or, failing that, to attack "people who support Israel" in the U.S.
FBI agents arrested Michael Sam Teekaye Jr., 21, of Hanover, at BWI Airport on Oct. 14 after he had checked in for a flight to ultimately go to Somalia to join ISIS, according to a press release.
He faces up to 20 years in federal prison for trying to support a foreign terrorist organization.
Teekaye - who had bought ammunition and range time at a Severn shooting range, and had been having many conversations with an undercover officer in 2023 - allegedly got an Ethiopian e-Visa and plane tickets from a Somali ISIS fighter was planning to fly to Turkey, then cross the border into Somalia.
RELATED | Top ISIS leader in Somalia was target of US airstrike
He was arrested at BWI after proceeding through security. Teekaye allegedly started kicking one of the agents, after saying:
I’ll just get out in 20 years and do something here. Okay? Okay? You will never stop me. Jihad will never stop. . . . I’ll be like 40 when I get out, then I’ll just do it. I don’t care. You will never stop me. Jihad will never stop. I’ll come and I’ll kill your soldiers. I’ll kill you, and I’ll kill...
Teekaye had also tried to buy a Kalashnikov K-9 9mm rifle in July, but was denied because he was on probation in a state criminal case, according to the press release.
In his previous conversations with the undercover officer - which had been going on since March 2023 - Teekaye also sent the officer a photo of himself in a black mask, holding a large machete, with the caption: “Abdullah the islamophobe slayer.”
The officer asked Teekaye if he was "sure" he wanted to join ISIS, and Teekaye replied: “I am sure I did a lot of research and had to accept something’s [sic] that they are the only group that has the most true and sincere intentions.”
