ISIS affiliated suspect arrested for alleged plot to kill President Bush

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ISIS affiliated suspect arrested for alleged plot to kill President Bush

A man affiliated with ISIS has been charged for his participation in a plot to murder former President George W. Bush that involved scouting out his Dallas, Texas home.

A man affiliated with ISIS is under arrest for his participation in an alleged plot to assassinate former President George W. Bush. 

"An Iraqi citizen living in Columbus, Ohio, has been charged federally with an immigration crime and with aiding and abetting a plot to murder former United States President George W. Bush," the Justice Department said in a press release on Tuesday.

The statement added that the suspect, identified as 52-year-old Shihab Ahmed Shihab Shihab, originally came to the United States in September 2020 on a visitor visa and filed for asylum in March 2021 which is pending review. 

Former President George W. Bush listens to speakers during the opening ceremony of the Walker Cup golf tournament. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Shihab, according to the Department of Justice, exchanged money with other individuals in an attempt to illegally smuggle foreign nationals into the United States and specifically planned to help four Iraqi nationals come into the United States across the southern border to help kill Bush.

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The charging document states that Shihab launched the plot "in retaliation of Iraqi deaths during "Operation Iraqi Freedom." 

"The U.S. Secret Service takes all threats to our protectees seriously," Secret Service spokesperson Special Agent Steve Kopek told Fox News Digital in a statement. "In order to maintain operational security, the Secret Service does not discuss the means and methods used to conduct our protective operations or matters of protective intelligence."

ISIS has long waged a recruitment and propaganda war online. (Reuters)

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It is unclear if any steps have been taken to increase security around former President Bush. 

"President Bush has all the confidence in the world in the United States Secret Service and our law enforcement and intelligence communities," Freddy Ford, chief of staff for the Office of George W. Bush, said in a statement.

The United States sanctioned ISIS facilitators this week in Syria and Turkey in an effort to "expose and disrupt" the network of "violent extremists." 

Former President George W. Bush stands with members of the U.S. armed forces during the national anthem before a Dallas Cowboys game. (AP Photo/Michael Ainsworth)

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Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday that by designating them, the Biden administration aims "to expose and disrupt an international ISIS facilitation network that has financed ISIS recruitment, including of vulnerable children in Syria."