Third suspect detained on suspicion of planning an attack in northeastern Poland
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish security services have detained a 19-year-old man suspected of planning a terrorist attack, marking the third arrest in an ongoing investigation in the northeastern city of Olsztyn, a government official said Thursday.
The Internal Security Agency said the suspect, along with two others previously arrested, had gathered extensive materials related to firearms use, combat tactics, and explosive devices. Prosecutors allege the group trained at shooting ranges and conducted paramilitary-style drills.
Investigators believe the suspects were influenced by mass killers, including Anders Breivik, Brenton Tarrant, and Timothy McVeigh. The young men reportedly studied those attacks in detail, analyzing the assailants' methods and mistakes, according to the statement.
'They were fascinated by their ideology, studied how the attacks were carried out, and analyzed the mistakes that were made. The content they consumed contributed to the development of extremely radical moral attitudes,' the security agency said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Associated Press
41 minutes ago
- Associated Press
An Afghan man accused of planning an Election Day attack in the US pleads guilty
An Afghan man in Oklahoma accused of planning an Election Day attack in the U.S. on behalf of the Islamic State group pleaded guilty Friday to terrorism-related charges in federal court. Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, pleaded guilty to two offenses: conspiring and providing support to the Islamic State group, and attempting to receive firearms to commit a federal crime of terrorism. The Islamic State is designated by the U.S. as a foreign terrorist organization. Tawhedi faces up to 35 years in prison. 'The defendant admits he planned and obtained firearms to carry out a violent terror attack on Election Day in 2024, a plot that was detected and disrupted through the good work of the FBI and our partners,' FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement. A phone message was left seeking comment from Craig Hoehns, an attorney for Tawhedi. Tawhedi was living in Oklahoma City last year when he acquired two AK-47-style rifles and 500 rounds of ammunition to target large crowds, according to court documents. Authorities said he had conspired with multiple people, including his brother-in-law, Abdullah Haji Zada, for several months to plot out the attack. Zada, who was 17 at the time, was charged as an adult and pleaded guilty in April. He faces up to 15 years in prison. Tawhedi arrived in the U.S. in September 2021 on a special immigration visa shortly after the capital city of Afghanistan, Kabul, was captured by the Taliban. At the time of his arrest on Oct. 7, Tawhedi was on parole while his immigration status was pending, according to the Justice Department. His parole status has since been revoked. FBI agents had testified earlier that Tawhedi, who worked as a rideshare driver and at auto shops, was under surveillance for more than a month before his arrest. ___ Lathan is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Los Angeles Times
an hour ago
- Los Angeles Times
Reactions to Padilla incident fall mostly along party lines
A day after federal agents forcibly restrained and handcuffed U.S. Sen Alex Padilla at a Los Angeles news conference, leaders of the country's two political parties responded in what has become a predictable fashion — with diametrically opposed takes on the incident. Padilla's fellow Democrats called for an investigation and perhaps even the resignation of the senator's nemesis, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, for what they described as the unprecedented manhandling of a U.S. senator who was merely attempting to ask a question of a fellow public official. Noem and fellow Republicans continued to depict Padilla as a grandstander, whose unexpected appearance at Noem's news conference seemed to her security detail to represent a threat, as she tried to speak to reporters at the Federal Building in Westwood. Republicans continued Friday to chastise Padilla, using words like 'launch,' 'lunge' and 'bum rush' to describe Padilla's behavior as he began to try to pose a question to Noem at Thursday's news conference. The Trump administration official was just a few minutes into her meeting with reporters when Padilla moved assertively from the side of the room, grabbing a Times photographer by the arm as he moved to more directly address Noem. He did not lunge at Noem and was still paces away from her when her security detail grabbed the senator. Padilla and his staff described how the veteran lawmaker went through security and was escorted by an FBI employee to the room where the press conference was held, saying it was absurd to suggest he presented a threat. Padilla spoke out after the secretary asserted that her homeland security agents had come to L.A. to 'liberate the city from the socialists and the burdensome leadership that the governor and the mayor have placed on this country.' The former South Dakota governor would have some reason to recognize Padilla, since he questioned her during her Senate confirmation hearing. A spokesperson at the Homeland Security Department did not respond to a question of whether Noem recognized Padilla when he arrived at her press conference. As has become the norm in the nation's political discourse, Republicans and Democrats spoke about the confrontation Friday as if they had observed two entirely separate incidents. Sen. Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.) said Noem 'should step down,' adding: 'This is ridiculous. And she continues to lie about this incident. This is wrong.' Lujan urged his Republican colleagues to support Democrats in asking for 'a full investigation.' 'This is bad. This is precedent-setting,' Lujan told MSNBC. 'And I certainly hope that the leadership of the Senate, my Republican leaders, my friends, that they just look within. Pray on it. That's what I told a couple of them last night. Pray on this and do the right thing.' Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus went to Speaker Mike Johnson's office to protest Padilla's treatment. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) spoke out on X and on the floor of the Senate. He said the episode fit into 'a pattern of behavior by the Trump administration. There is simply no justification for this abuse of authority …. There can be no justification of seeing a senator forced to their knees.' Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) went on X to repeat the call for an investigation and to say that 'Republican leadership is complicit in enabling the growing authoritarianism in this country.' Most Republicans remained silent, or accused Padilla of being a provocateur. 'I think the senator's actions, my view is, it was wildly inappropriate,' said Johnson, the House speaker. 'You don't charge a sitting Cabinet secretary.' Johnson added that it was Padilla, who should face some sanction. 'At a minimum … [it] rises to the level of a censure. … I think there needs to be a message sent by the body as a whole that that is not what we are going to do, that's not how we're going to act.' Rep. Tom McClintock, (R-Elk Grove) zinged Padilla on X, with some 'helpful tips.' '1. Don't disrupt other people's press conferences. Hold your own instead. 2. Don't bum-rush a podium with no visible identification. ... 3. Don't resist or assault the Secret Service. It won't end well.' Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-Big Bear Lake) also sought to reinforce the notion that agents protecting Noem sensed a real threat, having no way of knowing that Padilla was who he said he was. The congressman said on Fox Business that Padilla had obtained 'the outcome that they wanted. Now they have a talking point.' None of the officials in the room, several of whom know Padilla, intervened to prevent the action by the agents, who eventually pushed the senator, face down, onto the ground, before handcuffing him. Noem did not back off her earlier statement that Padilla had 'burst' into the room. 'Senator Padilla chose disrespectful political theatre and interrupted a live press conference without identifying himself or having his Senate security pin on as he lunged toward Secretary Noem,' Tricia McLaughlin, an assistant Homeland Security secretary, said in a statement Friday. McLaughlin also said that Padilla 'was told repeatedly to back away and did not comply with officers' repeated commands,' though video made public by Friday did not show such warnings, in advance of Padilla's first statement. The senator's staff members said he privately had received messages of concern from several Republican colleagues, including Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.) Speaking publicly only one Republican lawmaker sounded a note of distress about the episode. 'I've seen that one clip. It's horrible,' said Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). 'It is shocking at every level. It's not the America I know.' Padilla told Tommy Vietor of the 'Pod Save America' podcast that Trump's aggressive immigration crackdown is an attempt to distract from many other failures — continued instability with the economy, a lack of peace in Ukraine and Gaza and a federal budget plan that is proving unpopular with many Americans. 'He always finds a distraction,' Padilla said, 'and, when all else fails, he goes back to demonizing and scapegoating immigrants. … He creates a crisis to get us all talking about something else.' Padilla said repeatedly that Americans should be concerned about how everyday citizens will be treated, if forces working for the Trump administration are allowed to 'tackle' a U.S. senator asking questions in a public building. On Friday afternoon, he sent a mass email urging his constituents to sign up for the protests planned for Saturday, to counter the military parade Trump is holding in Washington. 'PLEASE show up and speak out against what is happening,' Padilla wrote. 'We cannot allow the Trump administration to intimidate us into silence.'
The Onion
4 hours ago
- The Onion
Democrats Back Resolution Thanking Federal Agents For Handcuffing Alex Padilla
WASHINGTON—After he was forcibly removed from a press conference held in Los Angeles yesterday by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Democrats in the House of Representatives backed a resolution Friday that thanked federal agents for handcuffing Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA). 'We express gratitude to law enforcement for bravely apprehending a sitting U.S. senator who expressed dissent in a public forum,' read the resolution, which won the support of 75 Democrats and praised both FBI and Secret Service agents for risking their lives to throw Padilla to the ground, handcuff him, and drag him outside. 'Every day, these brave officers stand in the line of fire to protect us from individuals who dare to exercise free speech. Thankfully, they were able to stop the senior senator from California before he could ask any difficult or probing questions on behalf of his constituents. We stand behind them, no matter which elected officials they may choose to assault, injure, or imprison.' Democrats also voted to give Noem a special commendation for bravely protecting authoritarianism in the face of danger.
