Politics

ISIS-Inspired Teen Allegedly Plotted To Murder GOP Congressman Behind Sharia-Free Caucus

Wikimedia Commons/Public/Jessica Rodriguez Rivas

Federal agents arrested a Texas teenager for attempting to assassinate a congressman and conduct an ISIS attack.

A 17-year-old boy was arrested by the FBI on Oct. 5 for plotting to assassinate Republican Rep. Keith Self of Texas and carry out an attack in North Texas on behalf of ISIS, federal law enforcement sources told local news outlet WFAA on Thursday. The suspect remains in federal custody and his name has not been publicly released.

“I am grateful to the FBI and law enforcement for stopping this threat. My family and I are safe, and I remain focused on serving the people of Texas’ 3rd District,” Self told the Daily Caller News Foundation in a statement. “Preserving our constitutional republic from radical Islam means accepting the costs that come with it — name-calling, threats, and worse.”

“Our Founders believed this country was worth the sacrifice,” he added. “This only strengthens my resolve. I will not back down.”

The FBI declined to comment to the DCNF.

The 17-year-old had been recently radicalized and was being monitored by the FBI. He was arrested after purchasing a firearm, WFAA reports.

Self has a substantiative political history of combatting Sharia Law and radical Islamist ideology in the U.S.

“Protecting our Constitutional Republic from radical Islam is getting messy,” Self told WFAA. “I served in the military for 25 years with the mindset that defending freedom was worth the sacrifice. Our elected leaders should govern with that same mindset.”

Self introduced a non-binding resolution to Congress in September that would denounce Sharia law and oppose its implementation in the United States. He is also the co-founder of the Sharia-Free Caucus.

The “Sharia-Free America Caucus remains devoted to upholding the Constitution as the supreme law of the land while fiercely defending the freedoms and liberties upon which the United States was founded,” according to Self.

“If it’s ISIS related, you kind of have to believe that. I can’t prove that. I don’t know that for sure. But you have to follow the [old saying] if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s probably a duck,” Self told the WFAA when asked if he thinks his stances on Islamic extremism prompted the attack.