The FBI has arrested a Texas man on suspicion of supporting ISIS and planning a terrorist attack on US soil.

A Houston man was arrested last week and charged with providing material support to the terrorist organization ISIS, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas announced Thursday.

THE Anas Said, 28, was arrested Nov. 8 and later charged with attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, or ISIS terrorist organization, according to federal court records. He was expected in court Thursday afternoon for a detention hearing.

With the assistance of the Houston Police Department and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, an investigation conducted by the Houston FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force revealed that Said allegedly made propaganda, including videos, for the terrorist organization.

Said is accused of creating and editing at least five videos and two images and distributed them according to Alamdar S. Hamdani, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas.

The videos depicted large groups of armed mensome of whom were involved in armed combat, as well as phrases that glorify ISIS and photos showing the number of people killed and injured in the group’s operations, according to images provided in charging documents.

“Those who create propaganda on behalf of a designated foreign terrorist organization are threats to national securityAlamdar S. Hamdani said at a press conference on Thursday.

Said’s behavior began to spiral toward violence after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, Williams said. Said claimed he had considered taking more immediate action: including buying a gun, locating military recruitment centers or attacking the leader of an unidentified Jewish organization, according to court records. Authorities did not provide information on how these plans are being developed. The charge against Said relates to specific pro-ISIS videos and images.

“He offers his home as a safe haven to ISIS operativesWilliams said Thursday. “He boasted that he would carry out a 9/11-style attack if only he had the resources and expressed a desire to join the US military just so he could serve his purpose once in their ranks».

Officials said Said first came to the FBI’s attention in 2017 when the agency received a tip that he was buying stickers with ISIS images. According to court documents, he was interviewed at least four times in 2018.

During one of these interviews, he claimed that “began to believe in the ideology of ISIS,” according to court records.

Said was born in Houston but spent part of his life in Lebanon, according to court records.

The FBI continued to monitor Said’s social media for years. In October 2023, the FBI received information about Facebook accounts used by Said that “indicated that he continued to support ISIS and the violent attacks carried out in its name.” Agents executed a search warrant at his home in February 2024.

Agents said they found records of efforts to create and spread propaganda as a result of that search. When Said was arrested last week, he admitted to making images and videos about a person identified as “the Designer” and to spreading the propaganda over encrypted channels, according to court records.

The charges against Said attract maximum a sentence of 20 years to federal prison and a possible maximum fine of $250,000.