Washington: US officials filed criminal charges Friday against two alleged supporters of the Islamic State group, who authorities said were linked to a third man fatally shot last week by Boston police.
The US Justice Department charged David Wright, 25, of Everett, Massachusetts, with providing material support for the Islamic State group. 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 the organizer of a controversial conference last month in Garland, Texas which featured cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad.
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 Boston 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.
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.
