U.S. military vet with 'deep-seated animus against Jews' tried to join Hezbollah, feds charge

[Behind the Aegis]

A 24-year-old Irish-American man with a military record was indicted on terrorism charges for traveling to Lebanon and Syria in an attempt to join Hezbollah, the Justice Department announced Thursday.

Jack Danaher Molloy was arrested in Chicago in early December for lying to FBI agents while being investigated for his effort to join the Lebanese terror group, the Justice Department said in a statement. When FBI agents questioned whether he had ever had any intention of joining Hezbollah, Molloy said he had no plans to do so and had had no business or plans in Syria.

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According to an unsealed affidavit, Molloy declared “a very fierce hatred of these Zionists” and was excited by the prospect of fighting them.

Molloy frequently employed antisemitic and violent names and references in usernames and social media posts, according to the affidavit, which said one of his email addresses was glassofjuice88@[REDACTED].com. The first phrase is sometimes used by extremists as a homophone for “gas the Jews,” while 88 is a common white supremacist code for “Heil Hitler.” The affidavit also said that around Oct. 7, 2024, the one-year anniversary of Hamas’ invasion of Israel, Molloy created the email kikekiller696969@[REDACTED].com and googled how to join Hezbollah.

Molloy is a dual citizen of the United States and Ireland who served about a month of active duty as an American soldier in 2019 and later sought to join an Army training program at the University of Illinois Chicago.

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