A 17-year-old who expressed curiosity in becoming a member of ISIS has pleaded responsible to attempting to kill one New Jersey police officer and attacking backup cops with a knife.
Fasihullah Safar, of Alexandria, Va., will likely be sentenced as an grownup on expenses of tried homicide, aggravated assault, aggravated assault of a legislation enforcement officer and motorcar theft, Burlington County prosecutors mentioned Friday.
Safar was initially charged as a juvenile earlier than the case towards him was enhanced in September.
The costs stem from an incident on March 21 of final yr, when Safar repeatedly struck a Florence Township patrol automobile whereas the officer inside was responding to a collision, later realized to have been brought on by the teenager.
Throughout the course of intentionally ramming the cop automobile, the teenager’s car was rendered inoperable. When backup officers arrived on the scene, Safar “charged towards them whereas aggressively swinging a knife,” prosecutors mentioned. A tactical vest spared one cop who was stabbed within the chest a number of instances from struggling extra severe wounds.
As police tried to subdue Safar, one other officer suffered facial accidents and a laceration to his torso. Two others have been handled for unspecified however non-life-threatening accidents.
Safar suffered a reduce to one in every of his fingers that was brought on by his personal knife.
Simply days earlier than being taken into custody in New Jersey, the defendant was seen trespassing at a highschool in Fredericksburg, Va. He fled faculty grounds when approached by a useful resource officer however couldn’t be discovered, prompting the closure of your complete district. He later made his solution to New Jersey for causes unclear in what authorities mentioned was a stolen automobile.
Whereas showing in court docket on Thursday, Safar confessed that he began following ISIS on social media within the months main as much as his confrontation with police, and indicated his intentions to hitch the terrorist group.
“In response to questioning from his public defender, Safar admitted to screaming ‘Allahu akbar’ through the scuffle, and acknowledged that his intention was to advertise terrorism by killing one of many officers,” prosecutors mentioned.
Safar is scheduled to be sentenced on March 26, when he’s anticipated to obtain 18 years in state jail.
