Federal authorities arrested an Iraqi-born man on illegal weapons charges during a sting operation prompted by the man’s alleged threat about “jihad.”
Ahmed Hassan Al-Uqaily, 33, allegedly paid $1,000 for two disassembled machine guns, four disassembled hand grenades and hundreds of rounds of ammunition supplied by an undercover agent working with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, authorities said Friday.
He was arrested Thursday as he placed the weapons in his car, according to an FBI affidavit.
The investigation began in August after an acquaintance of Al-Uqaily told federal authorities Al-Uqaily wanted to buy weapons. The affadavit said Al-Uqaily told the informant he was angry about the state of affairs in Iraq, was “going jihad” and planned to blow up something.
During conversations with the informant, Al-Uqaily “expressed animosity towards the Jewish community” and discussed “two Jewish facilities in the Nashville area,” but made no specific threats, according to a release from the Justice Department. Authorities declined to say which facilities were mentioned.
According to Nashville police, Al-Uqaily was arrested for assault in 1997.