Islamic terrorist incidents increased under President Joe Biden, according to several reports, as a majority of Americans polled say terrorism dangers increased under his watch.
“The number of Islamist terrorist incidents targeting the United States increased in 2024 after several years of reduced activity, with federal and state authorities arresting individuals in seven different incidents on charges related to five unsuccessful plots and two actual attacks,” an analysis published by the Anti-Defamation League states.
The analysis is not all inclusive. It excludes several incidents, including authorities stopping a 9/11-style terrorist attack plotted by a Lebanese man in Houston, and terrorist threats related to ISIS and Hamas posed by those in Canada, The Center Square first reported.
The ADL’s Center on Extremism claims to track Islamic-related terror incidents, reporting six in the U.S. between 2021 and 2023. It cites examples of authorities arresting those with links to Islamic terrorist organizations, for providing material support to terrorist groups, traveling overseas to join them, or plotting an attack against Americans.
In 2024, ADL identified seven Islamic-related terrorist incidents. Three of the most recent occurred in October – in Illinois, Arizona and Oklahoma.
On Oct. 26, authorities in Chicago arrested 22-year-old Sidi Mohammed Abdullahi after he shot a Jewish man on his way to synagogue, stayed at the scene and proceeded to shoot at responding officers and emergency personnel. Before he shot at police, he was reportedly recorded on video shouting “Allahu Akbar.” At a detention hearing last month, prosecutors said he’d identified several synagogues and Jewish schools to target.
Abdullahi illegally entered the country in March 2023 from Mauritania, West Africa. He was processed by Border Patrol agents in the U.S. Customs and Border Protection San Diego Sector and released into the country under the Biden administration’s “catch and release” policy. President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to end the policy on his first day in office. The policy, as well as multiple Biden administration-created parole programs, have been linked to illegal foreign nationals who committed violent crimes against Americans.
Had he not been released into the country, the shooting would not have occurred, critics argue.
On Oct. 18, in Peoria, Arizona, authorities arrested a 17-year-old male for allegedly plotting an ISIS-inspired attack against Phoenix Pride parade attendees. He allegedly planned to use an explosive remote-controlled drone. He was charged as an adult with the class 2 felonies of terrorism and conspiracy to commit terrorism.
On Oct. 7, the one-year anniversary of the Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel, federal authorities in Oklahoma City arrested an Afghan national released into the U.S. by the Biden administration for plotting a 9/11-style Election Day terrorist attack on American soil, The Center Square reported.
He was allegedly affiliated with ISIS’s subsidiary in Afghanistan and Pakistan, ISIS-K; two of his brothers were arrested on similar charges by French authorities.
In September, a Pakistani national was arrested by Canadian authorities for attempting to illegally enter the U.S. He reportedly planned a mass shooting targeting Jews in New York in support of ISIS, claiming it would be the “largest attack on U.S. soil since 9/11.” He was indicted in New York and charged with one count of attempting to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization.
Also in New York, in August, a Pakistani national with close ties to Iran was arrested for attempting to “commit an act of terrorism transcending national boundaries and murder-for-hire as part of a scheme to assassinate a politician or U.S. government official on U.S. soil.” He was indicted in September for his alleged murder-for-hire plot “straight out of the Iranian regime’s playbook,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said.
In July, federal authorities arrested a Jordanian national in Orlando. In August, he was indicted on four counts of threatening to use explosives and one count of destruction of an energy facility. According to court documents, he targeted and attacked Orlando area businesses for their perceived support of Israel.
The report comes as a recent Rasmussen Reports survey found that many Americans believe that danger related to terrorism increased under Biden. The majority, 59%, said the U.S. is likely to be the target of a major terrorist attack under Trump’s term; 24% said it’s very likely.
It also comes as the greatest number of individuals on the U.S. terrorist watch list have been apprehended by U.S. authorities at the northern border, more than 1,200, the greatest number in U.S. history of any administration, The Center Square first reported.
While the Biden administration has never acknowledged the record number of illegal border crossers or terrorist threats coming from Canada, Trump has already made demands that Canada increase its border security.
