August 04-The arrest of a Washington, D.C., transit cop for allegedly offering support to ISIS set off shockwaves of concern over what kind of damage the terror group could have unleashed with such access to the nation’s second-largest transportation system.
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Young’s initial court appearance was scheduled later on August 3. Other than requesting a court-appointed attorney, Young said little else during the hearing, which lasted less than five minutes.
If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
He told Federal Bureau of Investigation agents he had joined rebels looking to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in Libya, the Justice Department said.
A baggage search by Customs and Border Protection on one of Youngs outbound trips revealed he had traveled with body armor, a Kevlar helmet, and several other military-style items, according to the criminal complaint. He told law enforcement at one point that he had traveled to Libya twice in 2011 to fight against the late Moammar Gadhafi.
“None of the things that he said, none of the things he wanted to do related to anything here”.
Metro officials did not say what tipped them off to Young. Ahmad said Young’s auto was decorated with several anti-Israel stickers.
“We knew something was weird about him”, Ahmad tells CBS News.
The rise of IS “seems to have pushed him from just radical to mobilized to action”, he said.
A spokesman with the FBI Washington Field Office referred questions about specifics of the case to the USA attorney’s office in Alexandria, Virginia.
Young had been a D.C. Metro Transit police officer since 2003.
The case has been called “profoundly disturbing” by other officials who are closely involved and the DC Metro agency is said to have worked closely with the Federal Bureau of Investigation to ensure Young’s arrest. “They’re disturbing to me, and they’re disturbing to everyone who wears the uniform”, said Paul Wiedefeld, the general manager of the transport system.
The FBI said Young is the first law enforcement officer in the U.S. to be charged under the federal government’s terrorism law.
Young is the seventh person this year to be charged in a terrorism-related case in Northern Virginia. He advised the agent about how to evade law enforcement as he left the United States to join the militant group. Young allegedly told the informant that he wouldn’t get into trouble unless he “talked about or admitted his plans to join ISIL”, according to court documents using the government’s name for the so-called Islamic State.
This arrest comes after the Justice Department and law enforcement experts have been making a coordinated effort to identify and arrest individuals sympathetic to ISIS and prevent future attacks.
Young was discovered to be sending money to people he believed to be associated with ISIS.
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In March 2015, he raised suspicion when he brought a large amount of ammunition, AK-47s and a pistol to an off-duty weapons training event provided by another Metro officer.
