Upper St. Clair resident arrested for lying to FBI
Accused of trying to join Hezbollah
Upper St. Clair resident Jack Danaher Molloy, 24, traveled to the Middle East in August 2024, with the intent of joining Hezbollah, according to a criminal complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Pennsylvania.
Molloy has been charged with making a false statement or representation involving international terrorism to a department or agency of the United States.
The complaint alleges that Molloy lied to the FBI during an investigation involving international terrorism, a violation of federal law.
Molloy first traveled to Lebanon and attempted to join Hezbollah, according to the complaint, but encountered obstacles that prevented him from doing so. He then traveled to Syria in October 2024, hoping to join the Syrian branch of the terrorist organization.
The defendant met with multiple individuals in Beirut and Forn El Chebbek, Lebanon with the goal of joining Hezbollah.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office alleges that Molloy idolized violence and wanted to kill Jews, a charge they say is supported by multiple images and videos on various electronic devices and the names he selected to use on social media that included the monikers “Kike Killer” and “Gas the Jews.” He also used the email address glassofjuice88, a homophone for “Gas the Jews” and a coded reference to Adolf Hitler.
Molloy returned to the United States, living in the South Hills suburb Upper St. Clair, where he continued to try to join Hezbollah.
FBI agents confronted Molloy at the Pittsburgh International Airport on Oct. 20, who they allege lied to them saying that he had no current or future plans to join Hezbollah and that he had no business in, and was not meeting with, anyone in Syria.
Those statements were false, the complaint states, because Molloy had set up a meeting with an individual while in Syria when he travelled to the country earlier.
Molloy is a dual citizen of the United States and Ireland. He was an active-duty member of the U.S. Army from March 2019 to April 2019 and signed a contract in 2021 with the U.S. Army Reserve as a cadet with the U.S. Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corp.
He converted to Islam in February 2024.
Molloy faces a maximum total sentence of up to eight years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both.
–David Rullo
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