Authorities allege in a criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday that Young attempted to send money to ISIS through a mobile-based gift card using an unnamed messaging service the terror group utilizes for recruiting purposes.
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Police Chief Pavlik added that the situation “reinforces that, as citizens, we all have a duty to report suspicious activity whenever and wherever it occurs”.
Authorities were not the only ones who had concerns about Young.
The U.S. Department of Justice said 36-year-old Nicholas Young conspired with an Federal Bureau of Investigation informant to help the terrorist group by purchasing gift cards to fund mobile messaging accounts that ISIS uses to recruit potential soldiers.
Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld called the charges “profoundly disturbing”.
Eventually, Young allegedly sent the agents posing as ISIS 22 sixteen-digit codes for gift cards.
In 2014, Young met with a “confidential human source” who was posing as a “U.S. military reservist” on about 20 occasions.
According to George Washington University’s Program on Extremism, Young is the 100th person since March 2014 to be charged with an offense related to support for the Islamic State.
Young the took the source to a FedEx store where they set up new email accounts in anticipation of the source’s travel.
Despite Wednesdays arrest, the Department of Justice said there was never any threat to the public or a plot by Young to target the public transit system he was hired to protect. But the court papers detail vague threats over the years to kill FBI agents and informants or bring guns into federal court.
Investigators first began looking into Young after Metro police noted “concerns” about him. Young also traveled to Libya, where he reportedly told officials that he was working alongside local rebels in an effort to overthrow Moammar Gaddafi. During these conversations Young advised CHS on how to evade law enforcement detection by utilizing specific travel methods and advised CHS to watch out for informants and not discuss his plans with others. After the Charlie Hebdo attack, he told his informants that people now “understand there are some lines you don’t cross”.
Young had been a Metro Transit Police officer, a force that patrols the region’s subways and buses, since 2003.
In a brief court appearance, Young wore a plain white T-shirt and the black uniform trousers of a Metro police officer. He was accompanied by his new defense attorney, who declined to speak to the press after the hearing that lasted just a few minutes at the U.S. District Courthouse in Alexandria. During this interview, he told investigators several weird details about his personal life, including the fact that he had dressed up as “Jihadi John” the previous year at a Christmas party and was a collector of Nazi memorabilia.
Authorities on Wednesday had police tape around Young’s suburban Virginia townhouse.
Dina Ahmad has lived in Young’s neighborhood for 13 years.
Born and raised in northern rural Wisconsin, she is an avid outdoors woman, target and skeet shooter, Second Amendment supporter and defender, concealed carry advocate, NRA member and frequent guest on Cam&Co.
Young reportedly said he was shocked by the charges.
She was more surprised – and concerned – to learn that he was a police officer.
“That makes it even worse”, Ahmad said of the allegations.
Young appears to own a large number of firearms.
A Metro Transit Police Officer is facing terrorism charges after being arrested in downtown DC Wednesday.
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But when interrogated, Young allegedly told Federal Bureau of Investigation agents that it would’ve been his religious duty to turn Chesser in if he suspected him of terror involvement.
