A Washington Metro transit police officer was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly trying to provide “material support” to the Islamic State.
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“Nicholas Young had so many interactions with law enforcement over his affiliations with people suspected of ISIS involvement that he knew that he was being monitored, according to the DOJ report”.
The 36-year-old USA citizen is the first law enforcement officer charged with attempting to provide material support to a designated terrorist organization, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Young appeared briefly in court in Alexandria, Virginia, this afternoon where he came in handcuffed, wearing what appeared to be trousers from his police uniform, and a white T-shirt.
Geographically, Young represents less of an anomaly: Government stings have led to terror charges against a half dozen of his neighbors in northern Virginia.
Young has been with the Metro police since 2003.
There was no evidence of any threat to the DC Metro system.
Young has been on the radar of United States law enforcement since 2010, according to an affidavit. During these conversations, Young allegedly advised the informant how to evade law enforcement detection and advised the informant to “watch out for informants and not discuss his plans with others”.
The suspect, 36-year-old Nicholas Young, is accused of purchasing 22 gift cards for mobile messaging applications which he meant to send to IS militants overseas.
If convicted, Young faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. In June 2015, according to court documents, Young emailed asking his purported acquaintance for advice from Islamic State commanders on how to send money to the terrorist group. He sent the gift card codes to the person he believed to be in Syria in late July.
Young also talked to an undercover agent about killing Federal Bureau of Investigation agents and bringing guns into the agency headquarters or the Alexandria courthouse, the indictment said.
Young is just the latest in a string of almost 100 men and women in the USA being charged for allegedly having connections to ISIS.
“I think they’re not useful programs”.
Seamus Hughes, the program’s deputy director, said Young’s case is an outlier not just because it involves a police officer. Young later told Federal Bureau of Investigation agents he had been with a rebel group while there, and a check of his bags at the time found he was carrying body armor, a Kevlar helmet and other military gear.
Nicholas Young was interviewed in September 2010 in connection with an acquaintance, Zachary Chesser – who pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorists one month later – and again in 2011, for his affiliation with Amine El Khalifi, who pleaded guilty to charges related to an unsuccessful suicide bombing attempt at the U.S. Capitol in 2012.
Young had been under surveillance since 2010, and he went to Libya twice in 2011 to offer his services to rebels trying to oust then-dictator Moammar Gadhafi, according to the AP. Young often communicated his admiration for ISIS terror attacks to the informant and bragged about his Jihadi John Halloweencostume.
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Check back for updates on this developing story.
