In a curious development, a former US Air Force mechanic has now been arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and indicted for trying to join the Islamic State terror outfit after watching their online propaganda videos.
The suspect, Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh, flew from Egypt to Turkey on January 10 in the hope of slipping into Syria and “fight violent jehad” with ISIS, but Turkish authorities refused to let him enter their country.
Pugh, who converted to Islam in 1998, served as an avionics and instrumentation specialist in the US Air Force from 1986 to 1990. He was deported by Egyptian authorities to the United States, where the FBI took him into custody and found him to be carrying multiple electronic devices.
Before arrest, Pugh reportedly tried to destroy four thumb drives that contained information regarding border crossing points between Syria and Turkey controlled by the ISIS and downloaded videos showing executions by that group.
It is the first time that a former US military man has been caught trying to join the dreaded ISIS. Over the years, Pugh became “increasingly radical in his beliefs”, US officials said. Back in 2001, when he was a mechanic with American Airlines, the FBI was notified by a coworker that Pugh sympathized with Osama bin laden and was expressing anti-American sentiment. If convicted, Pugh could face up to 35 years in prison.