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19-year-old Milo Sedarat wrote, “Imagine capturing like 509 Jews and executing them with a sword. Would be so satisfying,” and urged, “We need to do a 9/11 to [Tel Aviv].”
By United with Israel Staff
Federal agents in New Jersey last week arrested 19-year-olds Milo Sedarat and Tomas Kaan Jimenez-Guzel, accusing them of plotting violent, antisemitic attacks while professing allegiance to ISIS.
Prosecutors say Sedarat, a Montclair teenager from an affluent family, repeatedly fantasized about mass murder and posted violent threats that investigators flagged as real-world danger rather than mere online bluster.
Court documents unsealed by prosecutors include chilling passages attributed to Sedarat.
In one exchange he wrote, “Imagine being the guy who sends the missiles to Israel. Like Hezbollah guys … I wish we had missiles like that. It’s not the same tho. Even a gun … I wanna kill them with [a] sword. Look them in the eyes as I take their women and stab them.”
In another he wrote, “Imagine capturing like 509 Jews and executing them with a sword. Would be so satisfying.” He also urged violence abroad, saying, “We need to do a 9/11 to [Tel Aviv].”
Investigators say those messages were more than rhetoric. The complaint describes Sedarat boasting that he was “the biggest antisemite in America,” plotting to run down pro-Israel demonstrators in Montclair, and vowing to murder his mother’s Jewish friends.
Law enforcement recovered images prosecutors say show Sedarat posing inside his family home with knives and swords. The filings identify him as the son of a noted Iranian American poet and a mother who hosts a local podcast.
Tomas Kaan Jimenez-Guzel was arrested at Newark Liberty International Airport while trying to board a flight to Turkey, allegedly intending to cross into Syria and join ISIS.
Court papers quote him saying he wanted to carry out a Boston Marathon–style attack that would make him famous enough to get a Wikipedia page and a Netflix special. The complaint also alleges Jimenez-Guzel volunteered to appear in propaganda beheading videos, saying, “I’ll do it, bro.”
Federal prosecutors have charged Sedarat with transmitting violent antisemitic threats and Jimenez-Guzel with conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.
Authorities say the two exchanged detailed messages about weapons training, improvised explosives, and methods to evade law enforcement. Investigators also tied the pair to a wider network that federal agents believe was connected to a foiled Halloween plot in Dearborn, Michigan.
Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba told the New York Post the case demonstrates that radicalization can take hold anywhere, including affluent suburbs. “We can never believe that even in an affluent town or in New Jersey that this can’t touch us,” Habba said. “We take every single case like this seriously. Radicalization unfortunately is something that is a part of our world now.”
Prosecutors say searches of the suspects’ homes and devices uncovered tactical gear, bladed weapons, and photographs indicating firearms practice. The indictment presents a pattern of escalating preparation that authorities say went well beyond online extremism and toward operational planning.
With antisemitism on the rise in recent years and Jewish communities in the Tri-State area on edge, the arrests highlight the urgent need for vigilance and proactive measures to prevent extremist violence.
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