GA Man Who Plotted White House Attack Pleads Guilty

CUMMING, GA — The Department of Justice reports that a Cumming man has pleaded guilty of plotting a "terrorist attack on the White House".

23-year-old Hasher Jallal Taheb has been charged with attempting to destroy, by fire or an explosive, a building owned by the United States. Prosecutors say he had planned to use explosives and firearms to blow a hole in the White House, and had drawn up plans to attack several other government landmarks. Taheb will be sentenced to 15 years behind bars.

According to the justice department, Taheb was caught in 2018 thanks to a neighbor who reported concerns to police that Taheb had been radicalized and was planning a terrorist attack on the government . The police then alerted the FBI who found that Taheb had been planning a series of attacks on the White House, Statue of Liberty, the Lincoln Memorial and other locations in the Washington, D.C. area.

Byung J. “BJay” Pak, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia says that neighbor prevented a tragedy:

"Taheb hatched a dangerous plan that would have resulted in unimaginable injury. We are grateful to community members who noticed his dangerous evolution and alerted law enforcement. Along with our federal, state and local partners, we will remain vigilant in order to disrupt these types of attacks before they happen."

The FBI says that in undercover meetings, Taheb showed agents sketches of the White House, his plans of attack and described the types of bombs and guns he was hoping to obtain for the attacks. Agents say the weapons included hand grenades, IEDs and even an an anti-tank weapon. In January 2019, they arrested him during an operation in Buford when he tried to buy weapons from an agent.

Taheb is scheduled to receive his sentence on June 23.