Police arrest heavily armed man equipped with NYPD, MTA Transit worker gear, 'extreme jihadist online posts'

QUEENS, NY - New York Police arrested a man in a vehicle with obscured license plates in the early hours of Wednesday morning. NYPD officers found Judd Sanson, 27, in the black Ford Explorer armed with a 9mm pistol and in possession of several high capacity magazines, knives, axes a stun gun, a whip, collapsable baton and handcuffs with both NYPD and Metro Transit Authority vests along with a "Guy Fawkes," popularized by the film "V for Vendetta."

According to law enforcement sources who spoke to The New York Post, the man was known to have shared extreme jihadist rhetoric online and authorities feared he was planning something "very bad." 

As reported by The New York Times during arraignment Thursday, prosecutors said that Sanson's collapsable baton was etched with the phrases, “Left me no choice,” “I am sorry,” and  “God, forgive me,” the latter written in Arabic. The Post reported a fourth phrase as being "You gon [sic] learn today."

Melinda Katz, the Queens district attorney, told reporters that investigators are examining his social media accounts to determine if he was planning a violent crime. “We are going to actually find out what his intent is,” she said. 

Katz told the court that given Sanson was stopped within close proximity to La Guardia International Airport the "threatening" language was "concerning."
 

This what authorities found in Judd Sanson’s car. (Photos from @nypost)@NYCMayor We are not alright. 2/ pic.twitter.com/dVMKynwTn0

— Melanie Notkin (@SavvyAuntie) June 13, 2024

 

Chief Jeffrey Maddrey told a press briefing later on Wednesday, "Members of this department make gun arrests, weapons arrests, arrests for knives every day, but an arrest of this magnitude, the amount of ammunition, NYPD paraphernalia in the car was significant."

An unnamed officer told The Post, "Given what was in there, something very bad was potentially averted. The intent is still under investigation. The sum of the parts had the potential for something awful.”

As reported by Crime In NYC via X, Sanson smiled at reporters as he was escorted from he 110th Precinct when one asked if he purchased his weapons on Amazon.
 

A heavily armed man with a penchant for jihadist teachings was led out the 110th Precinct stationhouse in Elmhurst, Queens, in handcuffs today.

Judd Sanson, 29, cracked a smile when reporters peppered him with questions as cops escorted him out — and broke into a wide grin when… pic.twitter.com/02GIIiOecr

— Crime In NYC (@CrimeInNYC) June 13, 2024

The Times noted that Sanson has been charged with 10 counts of criminal possession of weapons in the fourth degree and the unlawful use of a police uniform or emblem.