Farooque Ahmed

Farooque Ahmed (; born 1976) is a Pakistani-American from Ashburn, Virginia who was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for plotting to bomb Washington Metro stations at Arlington Cemetery, Pentagon City, Crystal City, and Court House. He was charged with attempting to provide material support to a designated terrorist organization, collecting information to assist in planning a terrorist attack on a transit facility, and attempting to provide material support to terrorists. On April 11, 2011, he was sentenced to 23 years in prison after pleading guilty. He has lived in the US since 1993. He has a history of several speeding violations and credit problems. Ahmed was arrested early on October 27, 2010. He was accused of scouting the Metrorail station in Arlington County, Virginia and recording video of the station on four occasions. In July, he handed over the footage to an individual who he believed to be an operative of Al-Qaeda.

He also told undercover agents that he would be ready to conduct jihad against America in January 2011 after completing Hajj in November 2010. At the time of his arrest, it did not appear that Ahmed had received any militant training overseas from Al-Qaeda or its associates. He told operatives that he was willing to martyr himself and had taught himself martial arts, use of firearms, and knife and gun tactics, skills he offered to teach others. As a part of a plea bargain, the prosecutors dropped one of the charges and Ahmed who had faced up to 50 years in prison agreed to a 23-year sentence.