Suspected NYC jihadist was a ‘quiet kid’ who showed no signs of extremism, friend says: ‘Something snapped in his head’
A suspected jihadist busted with an arsenal of weapons near LaGuardia Airport was a “quiet kid” who often spoke about staying positive — until something “snapped in his head,” his friend claimed.
The friend, who asked to be identified as “Jay,” told The Post he was stunned by allegations that cops found the weaponry in 29-year-old Judd Sanson’s black Ford Explorer when they pulled him over just blocks from La Guardia International Airport last week.
“He’s a quiet kid, he speaks about positivity,” said Jay, who has known Sanson since the two went to middle school. “I would never expect this from him. I’m so shocked. I honestly don’t know what to think.”
“He never spoke about violence or terror plots,” he continued. “I think something snapped in his head. He never talks about his problems … Judd was always hard on himself. He has a heavy accent, he was embarrassed about it. People bullied him at school for his accent.”
Sanson, a father of two, also hails from a devout Catholic family originally from the Philippines — but he had converted to Islam at some point during the last few years, according to the distraught friend.
He did it, Jay said, “to find peace.”
But he doesn’t seem to have found much of that — especially after a Wednesday morning bust revealed he allegedly had a loaded 9mm gun, nine loaded magazines, an NYPD vest, handcuffs, two axes, a stun gun, multiple knives, a weighted whip and an expandable baton inside his car, NYPD officials said.
Cops had pulled him over near LaGuardia at about 1:30 a.m. that day, and prosecutors say he nervously reached under the driver’s seat as the officers approached.
“Sorry, there is a lot of drunk people nowadays,” Sanson allegedly told the cops after they stopped him for having obscured license plates on the vehicle. “I live in Jamaica. I was visiting my uncle.”
But he also had a loaded Glock under the seat, cops said.
Police found a knife strapped to his leg, along with an MTA reflective vest and “a makeshift axe hanging from the ceiling” and a “makeshift sword” inside the vehicle, Queens Assistant District Attorney Dylan Nesturrick said last week in Queens Criminal Court.
Sanson — who has addresses in Tennessee and Maryland, but lives with his dad in the Hollis section of Queens — had also posted a “disturbing photo” on his Facebook page, Nesturrick said.
“This car stop averted what could have been a disaster for the citizens of Queens, New York City and potentially even the country,” the assistant DA said.
The court sent Sanson to Rikers Island, where he is being held without bail pending a Monday court appearance.
Jay told The Post that shop owners in the neighborhood would tell him that there was “something wrong” with Sanson whenever the two talked in.
But he brushed off the warnings.
“I don’t believe it,” Jay said. “He would never hurt anybody.”
