Upper St. Clair man indicted for terrorism offense and for lying to FBI
His "master plan was to join Hezbollah and kill Jews.’”
Jack Danaher Molloy, 24, a former resident of Upper St. Clair, was indicted on Jan. 2 by a federal grand jury in the Western District of Pennsylvania for attempting to support the terrorist organization Hezbollah and making false statements involving international terrorism to an agency of the United States.
Molloy previously was charged on Dec. 6 with making false statements to the FBI. He was arrested in Chicago, on Dec. 6, and transported by the U.S. Marshals Service to Pittsburgh on Dec. 30.
The indictment and affidavit in support of the complaint allege that from August 2024 through December 2024, in Lebanon, Syria, western Pennsylvania and elsewhere, Molloy “attempted to provide material support and resources — namely, personnel (including himself) and services — to Hizballah, a foreign terrorist organization (FTO), knowing that the organization was a designated terrorist organization and that the organization had engaged in and was engaging in terrorist activity and terrorism.”
Hizballah, also commonly spelled Hezbollah, was formed in 1982 and has conducted numerous terrorist attacks against Israeli and Western targets.
Molloy is a dual citizen of the United States and Ireland, according to the complaint and indictment, and previously served on active-duty status in the U.S. Army. He traveled to Lebanon in August 2024 and attempted to join Hezbollah.
“While in Lebanon, Molloy was told by multiple individuals that the time was not right, and that he needed to take other steps before he could join the terrorist organization,” according to the Justice Department. “Molloy then traveled from Lebanon to Syria in October 2024 in an effort to fight for Hizballah in Syria. After returning to the United States, Molloy resided in Upper St. Clair, where he continued his attempts to join Hizballah, including through communication with individuals online and in Lebanon.”
While in the United States and also abroad, Molloy allegedly expressed hatred toward and promoted violence against Jews, according to the complaint and indictment.
“Molloy’s alleged animus toward Jews was also evidenced by multiple images and videos on his electronic devices and the usernames he chose for his social media and email accounts, including the username “KIKEKILLER313” on the social media platform X. In one alleged WhatsApp exchange with a family member, Molloy agreed that his ‘master plan was to join Hezbollah and kill Jews.’”
While living in Upper St. Clair, Molloy allegedly visited a website detailing the possible incarceration location of the man who murdered 11 Jewish worshipers in the Tree of Life building on Oct. 27, 2018.
Molloy converted to Islam in February 2024.
He is incarcerated pending his detention hearing, which is set for Jan. 8.
The judge will consider two factors in determining whether Molloy will be detained during the litigation process: flight risk and danger to the community, according to Shawn Brokos, director of community security for the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.
In weighing flight risk, a judge considers the defendant’s ties to the community, including friends, family and employment, Brokos said.
“He has none of those things, so he’s not tied to this community,” she said.
Brokos also thinks that the allegations in the complaint are serious enough for a judge to find that he poses a potential danger to the community.
That Molloy searched online for the place of incarceration of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter, at first glance, seems incongruous, as the two men hold different ideologies. Molloy’s animosity toward Jews apparently is fueled by Islamic extremism, and the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter’s antisemitism stemmed from white supremacy.
But since Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, there has been a “conflation of ideology,” Brokos said.
“There is a unified hatred of the Jews among these separate groups for whatever reason, and we are seeing it on all spectrums, whether it’s far-left, far-right, whether it’s through the foreign terrorist organizations or their proxies, and that’s what is making our job more complicated,” she said.
Before Oct. 7, 2023, “our main focus was really on the white supremacists, especially after what we saw at the synagogue shooting,” Brokos continued. “We were really focused on white supremacists and their activities and their ideology, largely driven by the ‘great replacement theory.’ And then after Oct. 7, that really shifted for us, and instead of just a focus on domestic terrorism, we now had to focus more intently on international terrorism — that being the foreign terrorist organizations, whether it’s coming from overseas, or it’s coming from a domestic threat but based on somebody who has become radicalized by these foreign terrorist organizations. So the spectrum has become a lot broader.”
The arrest of Molloy, Brokos said, is an “excellent example of proactive work by law enforcement and the ability to intervene with an individual who has become radicalized or is on that pathway to violence. This is exactly what law enforcement should be doing. And I’m just very grateful to the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office here in Pittsburgh for focusing on this case and turning it around so quickly…. This is a great example of being proactive and intervening before an individual does something in furtherance of his beliefs and poses a true threat to our community.”
Brokos stressed that at no time did Molloy directly threaten any specific Jewish organization or individual in Pittsburgh.
If convicted, Molloy faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for the material support charge. For the false statement charges, he faces a maximum penalty of eight years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both. PJC
Toby Tabachnick can be reached at ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
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