Penn State Abington student indicted for lying about ties to ISIS terrorists

Federal authorities have charged a sophomore at Pennsylvania State University’s Abington campus with lying about his contacts with ISIS sympathizers and assistance he gave to the plotters of an averted terrorist attack in Chicago last year.

Kamal Fataliev, 19, of Philadelphia, posted more than 200 bomb, poison, and weapons-making manuals to multiple terrorism-related chat groups while working part-time and attending business classes at the university, prosecutors said.

His involvement came to light after the FBI disrupted the Chicago plot and discovered more than 700 messages between him and one of the suspects last year. And yet, when agents confronted him about those contacts, Fataliev twice lied about his involvement, according to court papers filed in conjunction with his arrest.

“Through his lies, Fataliev sought to frustrate an investigation into the identities of others who may have access to bomb making manuals and similar resources that he posted in two separate online groups populated with terror supporters,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Vineet Gauri said in a detention memo filed last week.

Read more: Philadelphia Inquirer