Federal authorities deported an ISIS-inspired terrorist who planned a mass shooting attack on Election Day in 2024, the Justice Department announced Friday.
Afghan national Nazira Haji Zada, 47, plotted the attack alongside her son, Abdullah Haji Zada, and son-in-law, Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, who were previously arrested and convicted. The Alien Terrorist Removal Court (ATRC) issued Zada, who lived in Fort Worth, Texas, a deportation order on August 20, which was unsealed Friday following her removal from the United States.
The announcement of Zada’s deportation comes on the 25th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, when al-Qaeda terrorists killed 2,977 people on U.S. soil.
The case was the first ever to go before the secretive court, which Congress established in 1996.
“From the moment President Trump took office, he made clear that his Administration would put the safety and security of the American people first,” Secretary Markwayne Mullin of the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement on Friday. “The President’s direction to use the Alien Terrorist Removal Court to expel Nazira Haji Zada, an Afghan national who plotted with members of her family to carry out an ISIS-inspired attack on American soil, delivers on that promise.”
“Thanks to the President’s leadership and the coordinated efforts the Departments of Homeland Security, Justice and State, Nazira Haji Zada’s final order of removal is now FINAL. Those who plot acts of terrorism against the United States have no place in our country. We will find them, and we will use every lawful tool available to remove them,” he said.
An application to deport Zada was filed on July 15, the Justice Department said. The terrorist appeared in court before ATRC Chief Judge Joan N. Ericksen for the first time on July 30.
Federal prosecutors used classified information to prove that Zada was an “alien terrorist,” providing the terrorist and her legal team “approximately half a terabyte of documents” to prove their case, according to the Justice Department. She later admitted to being an alien terrorist and waived her right to appeal her deportation order, resulting in the termination of her immigration status.
Zada’s 17-year-old son, Abdullah, and her 28-year-old son-in-law, Tawhedi, were arrested on October 7, 2024, after they bought firearms and ammunition they planned to use to carry out the attack, federal authorities said. Zada’s son entered a guilty plea as an adult, receiving a 15-year prison sentence.
In entering into the plea, Abdullah, who is a green card holder, agreed to his eventual deportation to Afghanistan following his imprisonment.
Tawhedi pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring and attempting to provide material support and resources to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) and receiving, attempting to receive, and conspiring to receive firearms and ammunition in furtherance of a federal crime of terrorism. He has not yet been sentenced.
Between June 2024 and October 2024, Tawhedi said he worked with at least one other individual to purchase two AK-47 rifles, 500 rounds of ammunition, and 10 magazines, with the intent to carry out the mass shooting on behalf of ISIS, according to court documents. Tawhedi communicated with an ISIS facilitator about his plans and asked the unnamed terrorist whether the 500 rounds of ammunition would be enough to carry out the attack.
In 2024, the family began selling their property, including furniture, computers, a cell phone, and two cars, to fund their attack, the Justice Department said. Zada also signed a contract to sell the family’s home.
The terrorist relatives also bought one-way airline tickets to Kabul, Afghanistan, before election day for Zada and other minor children.
.png)
.png)
