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Brooklyn man charged with funding ISIS, training with firearms in the US
By
Charles Lane
Published Feb 27, 2025
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By
Charles Lane
Published Feb 27, 2025
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Federal authorities arrested a Brooklyn man on charges that he provided financial support to ISIS and trained with firearms in the United States, according to court documents unsealed Wednesday.
Prosecutor allege Mansuri Manuchekhri, 33, of Sheepshead Bay, facilitated $70,000 in payments to individuals in Turkey and Syria affiliated with the terrorist organization. Turkish authorities later arrested one of the recipients for alleged involvement in a 2024 attack on a church in Istanbul for which the ISIS-K branch of the organization claimed responsibility, according to a criminal complaint filed by an FBI special agent. News reports at the time said two masked men opened fire during Sunday Mass, killing one person.
Authorities said Manuchekhri trained with firearms at shooting ranges, including firing an assault rifle at a New Jersey range in 2022. The complaint alleges he sent a video of his training to an ISIS-affiliated individual in Turkey with the message, “Thank God, I am ready, brother.”
“Protecting the homeland and prosecuting evildoers who assist terrorist organizations by funding their violent and hateful agenda, here and abroad, will always be a priority of this Office,” said John Durham, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, in a statement.
Authorities said Manuchekhri entered the U.S. from Tajikistan in 2016 on a tourist visa but overstayed, paying an American citizen to enter a "sham" marriage in an attempt to secure legal status.
"I look forward to seeing the government’s actual evidence, not mere allegations, proving that sending financial support to orphans and widows qualifies as material support of terrorism," Manuchekhri's attorney, Jullian Harris-Calvin, wrote in an email.
If convicted, Manuchekhri faces up to 45 years in prison, according to prosecutors.
“The NYPD will stop at nothing to protect New Yorkers from those who support and pledge loyalty to violent ISIS extremists,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said in a statement.
Tagged
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public safety
brooklyn
Charles Lane
Charles is a Day-of reporter focused on breaking news and enterprise. He’s very friendly and can be reached at [email protected], or more securely on whatsapp/signal 631-295-6715
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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