The criminal complaint filed against one member of the New York cell, 20-year-old Munther Omar Saleh of Queens, suggests that he may have been taking orders directly from ISIS. He referred to ISIS as “dawla”—Arabic for the “state”—when communicating with a confidential informant.

“I’m very sorry, but I was ordered by dawla officials not to talk to anyone,” Saleh said, according to the criminal complaint.

The other cell that worried officials as the holiday approached was comprised of two men from Boston and a third from Rhode Island. The three allegedly plotted at one point to behead anti-Muslim agitator Pamela Geller in New York.

One of the trio, 26-year-old Usaamah Rahim of the Boston area, obtained a 9-inch Marine fighting knife on May 27, followed three days by a second Marine fighting knife and a 13-inch “Spec Plus” fighting Knife, all via Amazon.com.