Authorities said the agents went to Mumuni's house to execute a search warrant of his property - and that upon their arrival, at least one agent was attacked.
A Staten Island terrorism suspect’s alleged knife attack on an FBI agent investigating a plot to use homemade pressure-cooker bombs in New York City shows chilling similarities to Islamic extremist actions in Boston and is raising fears that lone-wolf jihadis are feeding off one another.
According to court documents, he allegedly tried to stab an FBI agent who was conducting a search of his home. Court records state he "suddenly lunged at the officers with a large kitchen knife [and]repeatedly attempted to plunge the kitchen knife into the torso of an FBI special agent".
No serious injuries were reported in the scuffle.
According to the complaint, Saleh, a resident of the borough of Queens, spent hours online researching how to build a pressure-cooker bomb and reading accounts of the deadly 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.
Federal authorities accuse 20-year-old Munther Omar Saleh of preparing an explosive device to detonate in the New York metropolitan area. If he was unable to travel, Mumuni allegedly told investigators that he "intended to attack law enforcement officers." and had stashed the knife in his bed.
Mumuni’s attorney, Anthony Ricco, said his client did not pledge allegiance to ISIS, despite law enforcement officials claiming he did.
Mumuni is charged with attempting to kill a federal agent.
"It's not true he pulled a knife on cops", he said. They are all here to support him.
Alfonga believes Mumini might have gotten mixed up in the wrong crowd. The identities of the others under investigation, or how many of them there are, were not included in the complaint.
In his original interview, authorities said Saleh told them he didn’t sympathize with ISIS. "They didn't find anything", said Alfonga.
Saleh, 20, was arrested on suspicion that he was conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State.
But Saleh’s father stands by his son. "He became gruff, dogmatic nearly, like he got tunnel vision".
In May, an informant posing as a terrorist sympathizer said he spoke to Saleh, who reportedly said "I’m in NY and I’m trying to do an Op". He also told Mumini about his plans to leave and join ISIS overseas.
Saleh recently enrolled at a college in Queens that specializes in aeronautics and was taking a course in electrical circuitry, according to investigators. "May Allah make it easy for you".
Additionally, electronic surveillance revealed that Saleh had emailed himself information about the construction of pressure cooker bombs and that he had also conducted Internet searches of notable New York City landmarks and tourist attractions, the complaint says.
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