A U.S. man was arrested on Friday in Ohio for attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State militant group, the U.S. Justice Department said.
Amir Said Abdul Rahman Al-Ghazi, 38, was also charged with possessing a firearm as a convicted felon and trafficking marijuana, prosecutors said.
Al-Ghazi was arrested in North Olmstead in northeastern Ohio, the Justice Department said.
A federal judge in Cleveland ordered the man detained until a hearing on Wednesday, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio said.
According to prosecutors, Al-Ghazi, who changed his name from Robert McCollum earlier this year, used social media to pledge support to the jihadist group and its leader, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, last year.
He is also alleged to have expressed a desire to launch an attack on the United States, prosecutors said.
Al-Ghazi joins a slew of others, mostly young men, who have been arrested in recent months across the United States for trying to support Islamic State.
Many are alleged to have attempted to travel to Syria or Iraq to fight for the group. Others are alleged to have attempted “lone wolf” attacks inspired by the group in the United States.
This week, a New York man was arrested in connection with an alleged plot to set off a bomb in the city on behalf of Islamic State. Three others have been arrested in and around New York City as part of the investigation.
Two men in Boston pleaded not guilty earlier on Friday to plotting to behead Massachusetts police officers.
Federal officials have said they are actively investigating such cases in all 50 states.
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Source: Reuters