Former American soldier indicted over plan to ‘join Hezbollah, kill Jews’

A Pennsylvania man who previously served in the US Army was indicted by a grand jury on charges of attempting to support Lebanese terror group Hezbollah and of making false statements to the FBI, the US Justice Department said on Thursday.

Jack Danaher Molloy, 24, was a dual citizen of the US and Ireland and traveled to Lebanon and Syria in 2024 to attempt to join Hezbollah, which is designated by the US as a foreign terrorist organization, the Justice Department said in a statement.

The department said Molloy returned to the US in late 2024 and continued making attempts to join Hezbollah.

He was formerly enlisted as an active-duty soldier in the US Army from mid-March to late April in 2019.

The Justice Department said Molloy lied to the FBI about his intentions to join Hezbollah when questioned upon his return to the United States in late 2024. It said he was arrested on December 6 in Chicago.

According to the Justice Department, Molloy promoted violence against Jewish people on social media and said in a WhatsApp exchange with a family member that his “master plan was to join Hezbollah and kill Jews.”

A Pittsburgh man tried to leave the US and join Hezbollah, according to JNS.

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… pic.twitter.com/Jmz5sWkFxu

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— Angela Van Der Pluym (@anjewla90) December 12, 2024

If convicted, Molloy faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for a material support charge. For false statement charges, he faces a maximum penalty of eight years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both. A representative of Molloy could not immediately be contacted.