Ex-Marine Faces Jail Time for Plotting ISIS Attack in US

US federal agents are investigating the background of a former US Marine for plotting an ISIS-inspired attack in San Francisco. (Reuters)
US federal agents are investigating the background of a former US Marine for plotting an ISIS-inspired attack in San Francisco. (Reuters)
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Ex-Marine Faces Jail Time for Plotting ISIS Attack in US

US federal agents are investigating the background of a former US Marine for plotting an ISIS-inspired attack in San Francisco. (Reuters)
US federal agents are investigating the background of a former US Marine for plotting an ISIS-inspired attack in San Francisco. (Reuters)

US federal agents are investigating the background of a former US Marine for plotting an ISIS-inspired attack in San Francisco on Christmas, court documents revealed.

Tow-truck driver Everitt Aaron Jameson, 26, was planning to target the city's busy Pier 39 tourist spot, according to an affidavit submitted Friday by FBI Special Agent Christopher McKinney.

He was charged in the Eastern District Court of California with attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization and faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. A preliminary hearing is slated for January 5.

The suspect is said to have outlined to undercover agents a plan to use explosives to target crowds at the pier -- which is lined with restaurants, shops and bars -- between December 18 and 25 because "Christmas was the perfect day to commit the attack."

Jameson professed not to need an escape plan as he was "ready to die," the document said. As a former soldier, he said, "I have been trained in combat and things of war."

He asked for help obtaining a fully automatic military assault rifle, either an M-16 or an AK-47, along with ammunition and materials to make explosives, including nails, timers and remote detonators, the affidavit said.

However, Jameson told the undercover agent Monday that he had reconsidered and felt he could not carry out the attack after all, the affidavit says. He denied the allegations during a hearing in federal court Friday.

The FBI said the public was "never in imminent danger."

San Francisco Acting Mayor London Breed said there are no other known threats, though police increased their presence throughout the city after being notified of the FBI investigation several days ago.

"San Francisco is a city that proudly champions democracy, freedom and liberty. Sadly, that makes our home a target," Breed said in a statement. "We will not allow the thwarted attempts of one dangerous individual to disrupt our way of life. We will remain vigilant and continue to protect our city from any threat."

McKinney acknowledged an FBI misstep that could have endangered the investigation.

FBI agents raided the suspect's home in Modesto, California on Wednesday, allegedly finding his last will and testament along with a .22-caliber Winchester rifle, handguns, fireworks and ammunition.

Jameson attended basic training with the Marine Corps in 2009, obtaining a "sharpshooter" rifle qualification, the FBI said, but was discharged after failing to disclose a history of asthma.

According to McKinney, Jameson selected Pier 39 because he "knew it was a heavily crowded area."

"Jameson explained that he also desired to use explosives" in an attack that could involve his tow truck as an additional weapon, McKinney stated.

The suspect revealed his plans to an undercover FBI agent he believed to be a senior leader of ISIS, according to the court document.

Jameson said the US needed "another attack like New York or San Bernardino," involving vehicles and firearms.

He had voiced support for the October 31 attack in New York in which an extremist drove a pickup truck into a crowded bike path, killing eight.

In the 2015 attack in San Bernardino, California, a married couple used firearms to kill 14 people at a government building.

According to the 11-page criminal complaint, Jameson "has espoused radical beliefs." He had "liked" pro-ISIS posts on Facebook, including an image of Santa Claus standing in New York with explosives.

"The FBI isn't saying much to me, but I know my son wouldn't harm nobody. He wouldn't do that to innocent people," the suspect's father, Gordon Jameson said, adding that he had been told his son was on suicide watch.

The Sacramento Bee quoted the grandfather of Jameson's ex-wife Ashley Monett Jameson as saying the couple have two young children.

The paper said Ashley Jameson is in prison -- the reason was unclear -- and the children are in foster care.

Gordon Jameson said his son was "devastated" after being told he would never regain custody of his children.



Tropical Storm Adds to Philippines’ Weather Toll with 25 Dead and 278,000 Evacuated This Week 

Emergency responders retrieve the body of a worker a day after a landslide hit a construction site following days of typhoon-driven rains, in Cavite province, south of Manila, Philippines, 25 July 2025. (EPA)
Emergency responders retrieve the body of a worker a day after a landslide hit a construction site following days of typhoon-driven rains, in Cavite province, south of Manila, Philippines, 25 July 2025. (EPA)
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Tropical Storm Adds to Philippines’ Weather Toll with 25 Dead and 278,000 Evacuated This Week 

Emergency responders retrieve the body of a worker a day after a landslide hit a construction site following days of typhoon-driven rains, in Cavite province, south of Manila, Philippines, 25 July 2025. (EPA)
Emergency responders retrieve the body of a worker a day after a landslide hit a construction site following days of typhoon-driven rains, in Cavite province, south of Manila, Philippines, 25 July 2025. (EPA)

A tropical storm was blowing across the Philippines' mountainous north Friday, worsening more than a week of bad weather that has caused at least 25 deaths and prompted evacuations in villages hit by flooding and landslides.

The storm was Typhoon Co-may when it blew Thursday night into the town of Agno in Pangasinan province with maximum sustained winds of 120 kilometers (74 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 165 kph (102 mph). It was weakening as it advanced northeastward and had sustained winds of 85 kph (53 mph) Friday afternoon.

Co-may was intensifying seasonal monsoon rains that had swamped a large swath of the country for more than a week.

Disaster-response officials have received reports of at least 25 deaths since last weekend, mostly due to flash floods, toppled trees, landslides and electrocution. Eight other people were reported missing, they said.

There were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries directly caused by Co-may, locally called Emong, the fifth weather disturbance to hit the Philippines since the rainy season started in last month. More than a dozen more tropical storms were expected to batter the Southeast Asian country the rest of the year, forecasters said.

The government shut down schools in metropolitan Manila for the third day Friday and suspended classes in 35 provinces in the main northern region of Luzon. More than 80 towns and cities, mostly in Luzon, have declared a state of calamity, a designation that speeds emergency funds and freezes the prices of commodities, including rice.

The days of stormy weather have forced 278,000 people to leave their homes for safety in emergency shelters or relatives’ homes. Nearly 3,000 houses have been damaged, the government’s disaster response agency said.

Travel by sea and air has been restricted in northern provinces being pounded or in the typhoon’s path.

Thousands of army forces, police, coast guard personnel. firefighters and civilian volunteers have been deployed to help rescue people in villages swamped in floodwaters or isolated due to roads blocked by landslides, fallen trees and boulders.

The United States said it will provide $250,000 in funding to the UN World Food Program to help the Philippine government's response. “We are tracking the devastation caused by the storms and floods and are deeply concerned for all those affected,” US Ambassador MaryKay Carlson said.

After returning from his White House meeting with US President Donald Trump, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. visited emergency shelters Thursday in Rizal province to help distribute food packs to displaced residents.

He later convened an emergency meeting with disaster-response officials, where he underscored the need for the government and the people to adapt to and brace for climate change and the larger number of and more unpredictable natural calamities it’s setting off.

“Everything has changed,” Marcos said. “Let’s not say, ‘The storm may come, what will happen?’ because the storm will really come.”

The United States, Manila’s longtime treaty ally, has pledged to provide military aircraft to airlift food and other aid to remote island provinces and the countryside if the calamity worsens, the Philippines military said.

The Philippines, which lies between the Pacific Ocean and the South China Seas, is battered by about 20 typhoons and storms each year. It’s often hit by earthquakes and has about two dozen active volcanoes, making it one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries.