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A fugitive who has been on the FBI’s “Most Wanted Terrorists” list for over ten years was apprehended by the agency after he was suspected of being involved in two bombings in California in the early 2000s that were connected to animal rights.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement that the arrest of Daniel Andreas San Diego shows that “no matter how long it takes, the FBI will find you and hold you accountable.”
“There’s a right way and a wrong way to express your views in our country, and turning to violence and destruction of property is not the right way,” Wray added.
“The FBI said they tracked down San Diego – who previously had a reward of up to $250,000 for information leading to his capture – with the help of authorities in the United Kingdom. The 46-year-old from Berkeley, California, was first placed on the ‘Most Wanted Terrorists’ list in 2009 and spent more than 20 years on the run as a fugitive,” Fox News reported.
“Daniel Andreas San Diego is wanted for his alleged involvement in two bombings in the San Francisco, California, area. On August 28, 2003, two bombs exploded approximately one hour apart on the campus of a biotechnology corporation in Emeryville,” the FBI said on his wanted poster.
“Then, on September 26, 2003, one bomb strapped with nails exploded at a nutritional products corporation in Pleasanton. San Diego was indicted in the United States District Court, Northern District of California, in July of 2004,” the poster also said.
Federal investigators described San Diego as having “ties to animal rights extremist groups.”
“He is known to follow a vegan diet, eating no meat or food containing animal products. In the past, he has worked as a computer network specialist and with the operating system Linux. San Diego wears eyeglasses, is skilled at sailing, and has traveled internationally. He is known to possess a handgun,” the FBI said.
He has a tattoo on his chest depicting burning hillsides with the words “It only takes a spark,” according to the FBI.
San Diego was wanted for Maliciously Damaging and Destroying, Attempting to Destroy and Damage, by Means of Explosives, Buildings and Other Property and Possession of a Destructive Device During, in Relation to, and in Furtherance of a Crime of Violence.
🚨US MOST WANTED TERRORIST CAUGHT IN WALES AFTER 20+ YEARS
Daniel Andreas San Diego, wanted for 2 California bombings in 2003, was arrested in Wales by North Wales Police and the U.K.’s Counter Terrorism Police.
San Diego, a vegan and ex-network specialist, targeted biotech and… pic.twitter.com/Gm5TFYmmuU
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) November 26, 2024
Last week, the FBI arrested a man from Texas because they say he tried to help ISIS and planned a terrorist attack in the United States from his apartment in Houston.
Anas Said, who is 28 years old, was looking for ways to do dangerous things in the Houston area for the Islamic State, according to the police. He is being charged with trying to give the terrorist group material support.
Said was arrested last week at the apartment complex where he lives, according to Douglas Williams, who is in charge of the FBI field office, the Southern District of Texas said in a press release.
Williams said that while Said was in jail, he admitted to looking into how to attack local military recruiting centers, offering his home as a safe haven for ISIS members, bragging that he would carry out an attack “9/11-style” if he had the resources, and trying to make ISIS propaganda.
“We stopped a potential terrorist attack from happening right here in Houston! Any day we can publicly say that is a good day,” FBI Houston said.
Said has been on the FBI’s radar since the bureau received a tip in 2017 about him purchasing two stickers: “one containing an image of the Dome of the Rock2 with an ISIS flag overlaying the image, and another showing the white silhouette of a man holding a rifle with the caption, ‘Winning the Islamic Nation.'”
The FBI questioned Said four times in 2018 concerning the sticker purchases.
Zuniga said that Said was born in the US and went to Lebanon with his family when he was a child. In 2014, he came back to the U.S. Zuniga said that Said doesn’t dislike the U.S., even though he is accused of crimes there.
The report says that in an interview with the FBI in 2019, Said said that “he no longer consumed radical Islamic propaganda and only used the internet for schoolwork and to watch sports.”
But the DOJ says that wasn’t true.
“On or about October 18, 2023, under legal process, FBI received information from Meta Platforms, Inc. (‘Meta’) regarding 11 Facebook accounts used by the Defendant that showed he continued to support ISIS and the violent attacks carried out in its name,” according to the DOJ.
His family members “expressed their concerns” in FBI interviews, and “subsequent analysis of the defendant’s electronic devices revealed multiple encrypted messaging applications containing records of his efforts to create and disseminate propaganda that glorified ISIS’s ongoing violence, the evidence underlying the material support offense charged in the indictment,” the department alleged.
