Ohio man arrested at airport for alleged attempt to join ISIS

An Ohio man was arrested for attempting travel to Syria to fight with ISIS on Wednesday night at a Cincinnati- area airport, according to the FBI.

According to the official complaint filed in U.S. District Court, Laith Waleed Alebbini, 26, was taken into custody by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force. Alebbini is a legal permanent resident of the United States, and a citizen of Jordan. Immigration records indicated that Alebbini arrived in the United States from Jordan in July 2011. Alebbini left the U.S. for a period of time, and returned in 2014.

Alebbini, who resided in Dayton, was first arrested in January for unlawful entry into the Turkish Embassy in Washington, D.C. The charges were dismissed, but according to the complaint, Alebbini told law enforcement officials “You are going to regret this” when being escorted from the property.

Days later, Alebbini attempted to travel to Turkey, but was denied entry due to an expired passport. He then returned to the U.S.

In an interview with the FBI in January regarding his alleged break-in to the Turkish embassy, Alebbini admitted to posting pro-ISIS videos on his social media page, and claimed he was the “perfect recruiter for ISIS,” but said he did not agree with their violence.

According to the complaint, Alebbini said the security at the Embassy was very lax and that “If I had a bomb on me, I swear to God, three embassies would have gone down.”

On April 15, Alebbini contacted the FBI to ask if he was able to travel overseas during the investigation. According to the complaint, the FBI told him the Turkish embassy investigation did not ban him from traveling outside the U.S. Alebbini and his female partner purchased tickers from Cincinnati to Chicago, then onto Turkey and Jordan, according to court documents.

The FBI said they learned Alebbini had purchased his tickets on Monday. He was arrested before he entered the TSA security lines at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.

Alebbini appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Newman on Thursday in U.S. District Court in Dayton.

Fox News’ Matthew Dean contributed to this report