Illinois County Released Jordanian Man Found With 8 Molotov Cocktails Before ICE Re-Arrested Him

Federal agents arrested a Jordanian national in Illinois on Tuesday, days after local authorities let him go despite a federal request to hold him for immigration enforcement, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Hamed Mohammed Hamed Alsaidi, 31, was first stopped by police in Mokena, Illinois, around 2:52 a.m. on Saturday. Officers found him at a closed gas station and gave him a ride to one that was open, according to Shaw Local, a local news outlet covering Will County courts. He allegedly gave police a fake name, Hakmat Saidi. Officers later spotted him walking in traffic lanes and arrested him. At that point they discovered his real identity and, according to police, found eight bottles filled with gasoline and stuffed with rags in his backpack.

Police also said Alsaidi was carrying a written map of the area that included a nearby train station and the phrase "You see the mosque," an apparent reference to the Prayer Center of Orland Park, according to Shaw Local. Prosecutors told the court Alsaidi had an active order of protection listing residents and addresses in Orland Park, and that he had twice been found inadmissible as an alien, once in 2024 and again in 2025, which they argued made him a flight risk.

Despite that record, Will County Judge Theodore Jarz granted Alsaidi pretrial release on Sunday, ordering him to remain at a residence in Oak Forest with GPS monitoring. He was charged with felony unlawful possession of a weapon and misdemeanor obstruction of identification.

ICE had lodged a detainer requesting that local authorities notify the agency before releasing Alsaidi. Will County officials did not honor it, according to DHS, which said ICE officers tracked him down and took him into custody on Tuesday.

"Even though ICE lodged a detainer, sanctuary politicians in Will County, Illinois refused to honor it and released him without notifying ICE," a DHS spokesperson told The Daily Wire. "Fortunately, thanks to the brave men and women of ICE, we have apprehended him and he remains in ICE custody." The spokesperson placed blame on "Governor J.B. Pritzker and his fellow sanctuary politicians," accusing them of "reckless, America Last policies."

DHS said Alsaidi crossed the border illegally into California in 2024 and was released into the country under the Biden administration. He had a prior arrest for domestic battery, the agency said.

What's proven, what isn't

The items found in Alsaidi's backpack and the map referencing a mosque are documented by police and cited in court proceedings reported by Shaw Local. What remains unproven, based on available reporting, is motive. No terrorism charge has been filed. He faces a weapons possession charge and a misdemeanor for giving a false name, not an attempted-arson or hate-crime charge tied to the mosque reference. No federal indictment or FBI statement on intent has been reported.

A backpack full of makeshift incendiary devices and a map referencing a specific mosque and a protective order naming Orland Park residents is deeply alarming on its face. Felony weapons possession is what prosecutors charged, not attempted terrorism. Readers should treat the map annotation and the order of protection as documented facts from the court record, and treat any inference about what Alsaidi intended to do with the materials as unresolved unless prosecutors file additional charges.

The sanctuary policy fight

Illinois is a sanctuary state, and its Illinois TRUST Act generally bars local law enforcement from detaining people solely on the basis of an ICE detainer or civil immigration status. Supporters of that law, including Pritzker's administration, argue detainers are civil requests, not judicial warrants, and that local police shouldn't be enforcing federal immigration law without due process protections that a warrant provides. Illinois isn't unique. Cities and states across the country have adopted similar policies specifically to draw a line between local policing and federal immigration enforcement.

The counterargument, made forcefully here by DHS, is that when someone has already been found inadmissible as an alien twice and is found with makeshift incendiary devices, letting a legal technicality override a federal hold allows someone authorities wanted detained to walk free for two days before ICE could relocate him. Judge Jarz's separate decision to grant pretrial release on a felony weapons charge, despite prosecutors flagging flight risk, is a distinct decision from the county's detainer policy. Both decisions contributed to Alsaidi being on the street rather than in custody.

Alsaidi remains in ICE custody as of Wednesday. His state criminal case in Will County continues separately. Neither DHS nor Will County has indicated whether additional charges are being considered, and no comment from Governor Pritzker's office has been reported in connection with this specific case.