FBI agents on Friday raided the Sterling, Va., home of a man who officials say wanted to join the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
NBC Washington reported Saturday that the man, Sean Andrew Duncan, was arrested Friday on charges of attempting to obstruct a terrorism investigation, and that he had tried to dispose of evidence when law enforcement showed up at his townhome.
Court documents obtained by NBC Washington show that a relative first warned the FBI about Duncan in February 2016, after he had converted to Islam. Duncan, the relative said, may have been radicalized and spoke supportively about ISIS beheading westerners.
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Also in February 2016, the FBI interviewed Duncan and his wife after they returned from Turkey, the court documents show.
Also citing court documents, NBC Washington reported that Duncan had been in contact with a detained ISIS supporter, who said that he spoke about wanting to join the Islamist extremist group and conducting an attack in the U.S.
Duncan also shared with that ISIS supporter instructions for building homemade bombs, according to the documents, and had asked her to go to Syria with him to become his second wife.
Duncan moved from Pittsburgh, Pa., to Sterling in June of this year.
Police in Allegheny County, where Pittsburgh is located, handed over a copy of Duncan’s phone to the FBI in June, NBC Washington reported, which revealed searches for weapons, body armor and ISIS attacks and material.