Student Voices: The Planned Attack on the White House
January 31, 2019
Last week, a man from Cumming, Georgia, was accused of having plans to attack the white house and several other buildings in Washington. Even though no attack was made, 21-year old Hasher Taheb had developed a plan for attacking the White House. This is not the first time the authorities have had to intervene with Taheb about breaking legal laws or affecting the society. FBI Officers and the U.S Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia arrested Taheb after a year-long investigation and with the help of undercover agents.
Based off of multiple sources from WBSTV, the 21-year-old’s plan for trouble was quite elaborate. In December of 2018, he had a series of meetings with undercover agents about the white house building and its layout, different weapons, and explosives he wanted to purchase, ways to access the White House without intercepting the National Guard and other security personnel, and how he sought to widen his target. After these confidential meetings, his planned attack on the White House and other U.S symbolic buildings was supposed to be on January 17th. However, before any part of this attack could occur, undercover agents planned to meet up with Taheb. This meeting was the one that brought him into custody or imprisonment. He was brought into custody on January 16th of 2019. Despite the fact that he did not harm anyone with his planned attack, the intent of his actions to plant a danger in society was enough to get him imprisoned.
Based on his earlier encounters with the police, many of his neighbors were already questioning Taheb and his actions. Some Forsyth County residents were terrified living next to someone who could possibly put their lives in danger. All of this began when Taheb was first reported to the police after driving over a neighbor’s leg and smoking marijuana in a public area. The people of Forsyth were worried about what might happen next. In response to the planned attack, students at South Forsyth High School voiced his or her opinions about how this attack will affect Georgia, and what the future may look like.
I believe that after this planned attack, there will be more awareness around Forsyth County, along with more security around the area. However, we also need to teach and train students to create a stronger community and have more unity within the County, which I believe would prevent something like this from happening. After this planned attack, I do not think there are going to be other attacks of the White House because security around the White House and other places where suspicious activity happens will be increased.
— Freshman Maya Muniganti
Knowing that the man who planned on attacking the White House was a man from Forsyth, the environment or area seems a little more scary because you never know if people in your background who act normal are planning on harming you. It makes me wonder if one person is capable of these actions what will happen if more people join in on these dangerous deeds. As of right now, we are going to have increased security after this planned attack in our county. Currently, around my neighborhood, we have had more police cars come by, and they are knocking around on doors trying to find the people connected to the man who was arrested.
— Freshman Aryan Bhatia
My dad was one of the people who helped catch the man planning to bomb the White House. He told me to watch the news which showed that there was a terrorist about 5 miles from our house who planned to blow up the White House the day after they arrested him. People see Forsyth County in the foreground where everything looks nice; whereas, in the deeper end, there are major problems here. In the future, I feel like there will be more attacks because they have been watching this arrested man for years; in other words, I feel like their might other attackers who are low key, but still dangerous.
— Sophmore Ella McAfee
Honestly, after this attack, I think people are going to see everyone as more insane or crazy. I feel like this man planned on attacking the White House for a couple of possible reasons. Maybe he didn’t agree with how the government works, he might not like someone there, or maybe it has to do with the current government shutdown. I feel like this attack is the beginning of a lot of complications in the future. Technology is becoming more high tech and more accessible, allowing humans to be have more ideas or plans against the government.
— Junior Isabella Oliveira
Personally, I feel like this planned attack on the White House will not really affect anything or create major change in Forsyth County. There might be a phase where there are more cops around because of the planned attack, but nothing more than that. Additionally, I believe the man who was arrested should have thought more deeper and known that rarely anyone can just casually pass through the White House security.
— Freshman Ryan Zyck
More information about the incident can be found here.