A US air force veteran has appeared in court accused of trying to support the Islamic State.
Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh (47) from New Jersey pleaded not guilty on Wednesday in US District Court in Brooklyn. Mr Pugh gave his name in staccato tones; it was his only utterance. His head was shaved, he had a full beard, and he was dressed in khaki pants and a short-sleeved navy scrub shirt.
He has been in jail since his arrest in January. His lawyer, Michael K Schneider, said Mr Pugh pleaded not guilty to the charges against him: attempting to provide material support to terrorists and obstruction of justice.
Judge Nicholas G Garaufis told the lawyers and Pugh to plan on a trial starting in July, which would be an unusually fast pace. "It seems that the charges here are pretty straightforward," Judge Garaufis said.
“I’m prepared to go to trial at the earliest possible time.” He added, “Don’t make any vacation plans.”
Mr Pugh, who served in the Air Force from 1986 to 1990, had worked as an airplane mechanic and most recently lived in the Middle East. In January, he flew from Egypt to Turkey, and the authorities believed he planned to go into Syria and join the Islamic State, prosecutors said in court documents.
Turkish authorities, however, became suspicious and sent him back to Egypt, where he was held in preparation for deportation to the United States.
In Egypt, he told the authorities that he was going to Turkey to try to find a job and did not plan on going to Syria, according to court documents. He had with him several electronic devices, including a computer, flash drives and an iPod, and they had been tampered with, the government said.
Mr Pugh was sent back to the United States. A day after his arrival at Kennedy International Airport, he was arrested in Asbury Park, New Jersey, close to his last known US address, in Neptune, New Jersey.
By the time of his arrest, agents with the FBI had examined Mr Pugh’s electronic devices and found a letter, apparently to his new wife in Egypt, in which he discussed becoming a martyr, according to government documents filed in court. On the devices, they also found 180 jihadi videos that included an Islamic State video of beheadings and a chart of crossing points from Turkey into Syria, according to the court documents.
NYT