Three Palm Beach men charged with conspiring to help Islamic State

A West Palm Beach man first talked with an FBI informant a year ago about his desire to travel to Syria to help the terrorist cause of America’s No. 1 foreign enemy, the Islamic State.

Gregory Hubbard, also known as “Jibreel,” told the informant that he had a local friend “in touch” with a Syrian national who was a member of ISIL, according to a criminal complaint. Hubbard introduced the informant, who was posing as an ISIL sympathizer bent on traveling to Syria, to the friend — as well as another colleague seeking to join the same violent jihad.

And so began the alleged terrorism plot of Hubbard, 52, Darren Arness Jackson, 50, of West Palm Beach, and Dayne Antani Christian, 31, of Lake Park, federal authorities said on Friday.

The three Palm Beach County men were charged with conspiring and attempting to support the Islamic State.

Hubbard was arrested at Miami International Airport on Thursday before boarding a flight to Germany, where he planned to take a train to Turkey and then travel to Syria to join ISIL, according to the FBI criminal complaint filed by the U.S. attorney’s office. Jackson was arrested at the airport on Thursday after dropping off Hubbard for his flight, and Christian was arrested at work.

Jackson, known as “Daoud,” and Christian, known as “Shakur,” gave Hubbard weapons and trained him to use them for his overseas mission, according to the complaint. Christian was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm.