A man in Ohio who was allegedly planning to attack a synagogue in Toledo is in custody, law enforcement officials announced Monday.
Damon Joseph, 21, was arrested Friday on a charge of attempting to provide material to support the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terror group, according to local ABC News outlet WTVG.
Authorities say Joseph spent months planning a terrorist attack on a Jewish congregation after being radicalized by ISIS through the internet.
{mosads}U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman said Joseph was plotting to strike the synagogue and kill a rabbi in an attack modeled after the October massacre at a synagogue in Pittsburgh.
“I admire what the guy did with the shooting actually,” Joseph said to an undercover FBI agent, according to the Department of Justice.
“I can see myself carrying out this type of operation,” the Toledo Blade reported him saying.
Joseph followed up by sending his plan to carry out an attack on at least one synagogue to an undercover agent, according to an FBI affidavit.
Officials say Joseph spent months planning the attack and met an undercover agent Friday and received two AR-15 rifles, prompting his arrest.
Officials say he expressed hateful views against “gays, Christians, Catholics and Jews.”
Joseph faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.