A suspected jihadist has been apprehended with a terrifying hoard of weapons and masks just blocks from a major New York City airport.
Judd Sanson, 27, was arrested after cops pulled him over near LaGuardia Airport for an obscured license plate and discovered the deadly cache.
A loaded 9mm gun, ammunition, knives, a machete, stun gun, whip, a body armor vest with an NYPD patch inside it, an MTA vest and a baton with disturbing writing were found inside his vehicle, according to police.
Sanson’s black Ford Explorer was pulled over in East Elmhurst in his native Queens on Wednesday.
He was stopped by an NYPD officer who saw a black handle protruding from a holster strapped to Sanson’s right pants leg, District Attorney Melinda Katz said.
Suspected jihadist Judd Sanson was apprehended with a terrifying hoard of weapons and masks just blocks from a major New York City airport
The cop asked if he had a knife and he removed it from the holster and placed it on the vehicle’s console, she added.
This prompted police to conduce a full search and it was then they discovered the weapons’ haul.
A black expandable baton with the words ‘Left Me No Choice,’ ‘You Gon Learn Today’ and an Arabic expression that means, ‘Ask In God For Forgiveness’ was also recovered.
‘When a person is pulled over and possesses a loaded semi-automatic gun, more than 170 total rounds of ammunition, multiple weapons, body armor, an NYPD patch and an MTA vest, just a few blocks from the airport, we are very concerned,’ District Attorney Katz said.
‘This investigation is ongoing and I thank the NYPD for apprehending the defendant on a routine traffic stop before anything else happened.’
Sanson is now facing gun and weapons charges which if convicted could see him jailed for up to 15 years.
A loaded 9mm gun, ammunition, knives, a machete, stun gun, whip, a body armor vest with an NYPD patch inside it, an MTA vest and a baton with disturbing writing were discovered, according to police.
Sanson, 27, was arrested after cops pulled him over for an obscured license plate and discovered the deadly cache
It is thought he had been living inside the vehicle prior to being pulled over.
A friend told the New York Post that he was surprised by the allegations against Sanson, who he described as a ‘quiet kid’.
‘He speaks about positivity. I’m so shocked. I honestly don’t know what to think,’ he said.
‘He never spoke about violence or terror plots. I think something snapped in his head.
‘He never talks about his problems Judd was always hard on himself. He has a heavy accent, he was embarrassed about it. People bullied him at school for his accent.’
Sanson is originally from a Catholic family in the Philippines but recently converted to Islam, according to the friend.
The father-of-two also appears to be a tattoo artist.
Sanson is originally from a Catholic family in the Philippines but recently converted to Islam, according to a friend
Cops pulled him over in East Elmhurst near LaGuardia Airport on Wednesday
The friend added that local shopkeepers had warned him there was ‘something wrong’ with Sanson but he had dismissed their concerns.
Sanson is being held without bail on Rikers Island and appeared in court today.