Afghan nationals Nasir Tawhedi and Abdullah Zada were arrested in 2024 for planning to commit a terror attack on election day the same year, from their then-home in Oklahoma City.
The pair pleaded guilty, were convicted and will likely spend the next 15 to 35 years in federal prison.
Now, the DOJ is trying to remove 47-year-old Nazira Zada, mother of Abdullah Zada. She is accused of aiding in the election-day mass shooting plot.
"Zada, the matriarch of an alien Afghan family, is being removed for her role in a plot to commit an ISIS-inspired mass shooting on Election Day in 2024 for which her son, Abdullah Haji Zada, and son-in-law, Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, were previously arrested and convicted," reads a DOJ press release.
Zada was arrested in Fort Worth last week, but unlike her son and son-in-law, her case was filed with the never before used Alien Terrorist Removal Court in Washington D.C..
Created as part of Congress's response to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, the civil court offers lower standards of proof for federal prosecutors, compared to criminal proceedings, which require proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Instead only a preponderance of evidence is required — essentially more likely than not.
It also allows them to use classified information as evidence for their charges in some cases, meaning it can be concealed from the public.
The criminal complaint alleges Zada took part in selling family property to raise money for the attack, including furniture, computers, a phone and the family's two vehicles.
She's had her first hearing, and remains in custody, according to NPR, while her court-appointed public defenders signal they'll contest the legality of the untested court.
