Today, Young was arrested and charged with providing material support to ISIS.
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U.S. transit police officer was arrested Wednesday for trying to provide material support to ISIS, according to authorities. Young had his initial appearance in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Theresa C. Buchanan on August 3 at 2 p.m. He is a thin, bearded man.
David Smith, who was appointed to represent Young after the hearing, said he could not comment because he had not yet been able to research the details of the case. He did not enter a plea.
Young was in court Wednesday afternoon, and faces the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison if he is convicted.
Young came under Federal Bureau of Investigation scrutiny in 2010 because of his acquaintance with Chesser, and then he and the undercover officer met several times in 2011 with Khalifi and discussed violent jihad, the affidavit says.
There was “no pending threat to the D.C. transportation system”, a source emphasized to ABC News, which first reported the arrest.
Young served as a Metro police officer for 13 years before he was sacked on Wednesday and Ron Pavlik, the Metro Transit Police Chief, says that the firing was the culmination of an investigation that began due to concerns about Young within the department.
USA prosecutors said a transit system police officer in Washington, D.C. has been arrested on charges he attempted to provide material support to Islamic State militants.
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 group. His friend Zachary Chesser was arrested in 2010 for attempting to provide material support to Somali terrorist group al-Shabaab, and Amine El Khalifi, who met with Young, Chesser, and the undercover agent, is now serving time for a plot to blow up the U.S. Capitol.
Police were investigating Young for six years, beginning in September 2010.
Since then, Young has allegedly praised prominent terror operations around the world. In one Halloween party, Young dressed up as “Jihadi John”.
“US officials have used confidential informants and undercover agents to help assess whether a particular individual poses a threat to public safety or national security”.
According to court documents, Young has been on law enforcement’s radar since 2010.
In an e-mail Young sent in 2015 to the informant, whom he thought had contacts with the IS, he asked how he could send money to IS leaders.
Senator Ben Sasse, a Republican on the Homeland Security Committee, hailed the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in apprehending Young.
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Last month, he sent an undercover agent $245 in gift cards to charge mobile messaging accounts that the ISIS group uses in its recruiting efforts. He lives in Fairfax, Virginia, outside Washington. In another meeting, he admitted to torturing animals as a child.
