A man who tried to join the Islamic State group voiced support for a potential terrorist truck attack in Times Square like the one by the group that killed dozens of people in Nice, France, federal prosecutors say.
In a social media conversation about the Nice attack intercepted in July, Mohamed Rafik Naji told an unnamed associate that the Islamic State leaders "want an operation in Times Square," according to court papers.
"I was saying if there is a truck, I mean a garbage truck, and one drives it there to Times Square and crushes them," said Naji, a legal US resident from Yemen, according to prosecutors.
He also referred to a "reconnaissance group already put on the scene," they said.
The allegations are contained in a criminal complaint charging the 37-year-old Brooklyn resident with attempting to support a foreign terrorist organisation by seeking to fight for the Islamic State group overseas.
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Naji was ordered held without bail following his arrest on Monday. He didn't enter a plea at his initial court appearance on the complaint.
