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Jack Danaher Molloy, 24, a dual Irish-American citizen, traveled to Lebanon in August and to Syria in October trying to join the Hezbollah terror organization, according to a federal complaint unsealed on Monday.
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 foreign terrorist organization,” per the 27-page complaint. He then “traveled from Lebanon to Syria in October 2024 in the hopes of joining the Syrian branch of Hezbollah.”
Molloy also “supported and idolized violence and wanted to kill Jews, as evidenced by multiple images and videos on his electronic devices and the names he chose as his monikers for his social media and email accounts,” per the complaint. The latter “included variations of the phrase ‘kike killer’ and ‘gas the Jews,’” it adds.
Molloy, who is a former active duty member of the U.S. military and who converted to Islam in or around February 2024, used an email address on his PayPal that included the phrase “glassofjuice88,” according to the Justice Department.
“Your affiant is aware, based on training and experience, that ‘glassofjuice’ is a homophone for ‘gas the Jews,’ and the number ‘88’ is a reference to a white supremacist numerical code for ‘Heil Hitler,’” according to the complaint. “‘H’ is the eighth letter of the alphabet, so 88 = ‘HH’ = ‘Heil Hitler.’”
In August and September, Molloy searched on Google for “Hezbollah training” and “Hezbollah reserves,” according to the complaint, and he communicated via WhatsApp voice notes with unknown individuals, who advised him to frequent mosques that had Hezbollah membership and to learn Arabic.
“On or about Sept. 20, 2024, Molloy sent a message to an individual with a Snapchat username of [redacted] stating that Molloy had attended a Hezbollah funeral and that ‘the gate guards even though they were different ones from last week, knew of me, they knew that I’m Irish, that I’m Shia, and somehow they knew that I want in with Hezbollah,’” per the complaint. “‘They were entertaining the idea of me being Hezb. I fully expect to be taken off the streets at any moment for questioning and vetting.’”
In late September, Molloy allegedly wrote that he “grew up in a military family, so my mind is always obsessed with military” and, “to me, I am continuing the fight my great grandmother fought against the Zionists, but now Islamically.” Per the complaint, he added that “I have a very fierce hatred of these Zionists and I need to fight” and “I have thought about this every moment of every day since I was 18, for 7 years now.”
The defendant was subsequently warned that Hezbollah officials might suspect he was an Israeli agent, according to correspondence monitored by U.S. intelligence agencies.
“You’re going to have to wait, because I think it’s going to take more than a couple of months, and things are not very safe. There are a lot of divisions you can apply for, but right now they are not recruiting, they’re not accepting anyone and due to the high number of Mossad agents, and moles, appearing inside sadly, so it’s gonna take a while,” an unnamed person wrote to Molloy. “For sure, you can, but it’s gonna take a while especially after the circumstances are over.”
Molloy also corresponded with his mother about his plans, including thinking of going to Russia to fight against Ukraine, “in order to ultimately reach his goal of joining Hezbollah,” per the complaint.
“But your master plan was to join Hezbollah and kill Jews?” his mother wrote to him. “Yes,” he responded. “How is joining Russia part of [the] master plan?” she asked. “It’s a job,” he said. “A one-year job.” Later on in the conversation, she said his plan was part of his “unstable thinking.” He replied, “I’ve already spoken to recruitment,” per the complaint.
After the defendant returned stateside and lived in Upper St. Clair, a Pittsburgh, Pa., suburb, Molloy “continued to engage in conduct consistent with his desire to join Hezbollah,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
On Oct. 20, Molloy lied to FBI agents at Pittsburgh International Airport and said “he had no current or future plans to become involved with Hezbollah” and that he had no business in, nor was he meeting with anyone, in Syria,” per the Justice Department.
“These statements and representations were false because Molloy knew at that time that he did have current and future plans to become involved with Hezbollah” and that he had “traveled to Syria in furtherance of his attempts to join Hezbollah, and while in Syria, set up a meeting with an individual there,” the Justice Department said.
On or about Nov. 22, Molloy allegedly wrote to someone on social media saying he intended to get a job as a private neighborhood patrol in Chicago. “I’ll make sure to go up to the Jewish neighborhood and taunt everyone,” he wrote, before saying he was joking.
Investigators also found Nazi and other antisemitic imagery on Molloy’s electronic devices, per the complaint.
Molloy appeared in federal court in Chicago on Monday. The 24-year-old faces up to eight years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines.
