Federal prosecutors are claiming that a former U.S. Air Force mechanic has plotted to travel to Syria for joining the ISIS and has been arrested on charges of terrorism.
Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh, 47, of NJ has been accused of charges of attempting to provide material support to this terrorist group and obstruction of justice.
Held in custody, Pugh will appear in federal court in NYC on Wednesday, although his lawyer did not instantly comment on the matter.
Federal prosecutors said that Pugh has been serving as an avionics instrument system specialist in the Air Force from 1986 to 1990 and has been trained to install and maintain aircraft engines and navigations and weapons systems.
According to the investigators, after serving for the Air Force, he has worked for a handful of organizations in the U.S and the Middle East as an avionics specialist and airplane mechanic as was residing abroad for about a year before being charged with these issues.
Prosecutors have said that he had been fired from his latest job and then chose to unite with this terrorist group travelling from Egypt to Turkey so that he could eventually cross the border to go to Syria.
He journey halted at the Turkey border and he was sent away from there.
Prosecutors confirmed that a scan on his laptop and other electronic devices showed jihadist propaganda videos along with a letter which said “”I will use the talents and skills given to me by Allah to establish and defend the Islamic States.”
The Department of Justice have charged around 20 individuals in the past year with such plans of travelling to the Middle East and federal officials are very concerned about Americans going overseas to train with these groups to attack their own homeland eventually.
“We will continue to vigorously prosecute extremists, whether based here or abroad, to stop them before they are able to threaten the United States and its allies,” US Attorney Loretta Lynch said in a statement today.
