A US Air Force veteran and former airplane mechanic charged with trying to join the Islamic State will be among the first Americans to go on trial as a result of the US Government’s pursuit of dozens of suspected sympathisers of the militant group.
Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh, 48, was stopped at a Turkish airport in January 2015. He told investigators he was just on a vacation, but an indictment alleged that he was carrying 180 jihadist propaganda videos, including one featuring the beheading of an Islamic State prisoner. later, prosecutors said they found a letter on his computer in which he told his wife he wanted to join the Islamic State.
Jury selection in Pugh’s trial at a federal court in New York City is scheduled to begin in earnest this week. Pugh has pleaded not guilty to charges that he tried to provide material support to a terrorist group and obstructed justice.
The Justice Department said it has pressed criminal charges against more than 70 Islamic State sympathizers, though some published reports have put that figure higher.
Karen J Greenberg, director of the Fordham law School’s Center on National Security, which tracks terrorism cases, said the US Government has charged 78 people in connection with the group. Of those, two dozen have pleaded guilty.