Criminal charges were filed on Friday against two alleged supporters of the Islamic State (ISIS) group, who authorities said were linked to a third man fatally shot last week by Boston police, according to AFP.
The Justice Department charged David Wright, 25, of Everett, Massachusetts, with providing material support for ISIS. Also charged was Nicholas Rovinski, 24, of Warwick, Rhode Island.
The Justice Department complaint alleged that Wright and Rovinski plotted with Usaamah Rahim, 26, "to commit attacks and kill persons inside the United States, which they believed would support ISIL's objectives."
Authorities said Wright is also the nephew of Usaamah Rahim, the 26-year-old security guard shot dead by police in Boston on June 2.
Rahim reportedly had planned originally to target Jewish blogger Pamela Geller, the organizer of a controversial conference last month in Garland, Texas which featured cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed.
The conference came under attack by two gunmen who shot a security guard outside the event before being killed by a police officer. One of the two gunmen was later revealed to have tweeted allegiance to ISIS.
Officials said the three men conspired together as the plot was hatched, but that Rahim later changed his mind, deciding instead to focus his attack on “the boys in blue”, a reference to the police.
Authorities said Rahim was carrying a military-style knife and advancing toward them when they fatally shot him.
The investigation, led by the FBI's Boston Joint Terrorism Task Force, found that Wright and Rovinski, in the days leading up to the police shooting of Rahim, "did knowingly conspire... to provide material support and resources" to ISIS, a Justice Department press release said, according to AFP.
Justice officials said Wright was arrested June 3 on a charge of conspiracy to obstruct justice as they investigated the attack by Rahim.
Rovinski, who was taken into custody at his home late Thursday, was due to appear in federal court in Boston later Friday.
AFP contributed to this report.
(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)