Prosecutors brought the first-ever terrorism charges against a law enforcement officer in the US on Wednesday, alleging that a patrol officer with Washington DC region’s Metro Transit Police was caught buying $250 worth of cards for the Islamic State group.
Young, who lives in Virginia bought the gift cards last month to purchase mobile apps that would facilitate the Islamic State’s communication to recruit followers. But he actually gave the gift cards to an undercover FBI source.
Young believed the informant was an acquaintance of his who was working with the militant group, court records said.
Documents show that Young, who worked for the transit authority since 2003 had been under surveillance of the US law enforcement since 2010. He traveled to Libya twice in 2011, where he said he joined rebel forces seeking to oust dictator Moammar Gaddafi.
FBI spokesman Andrew Ames confirmed that Young, who was fired immediately after the arrest is the first law enforcement officer to be charged under the federal government’s terrorism law.
Obviously, the allegations in this case are profoundly disturbing. They’re disturbing to me, and they’re disturbing to everyone who wears the uniformPaul Wiedefeld, Metro General Manager
Prosecutors said it was Metro Transit Police that initiated the investigation, and then worked cooperatively with the FBI.
The documents also show that Young was an associate of two other persons who were charged with terror-related crimes.
In 2010, law enforcement interviewed Young because of his links to Zachary Chesser, who eventually pleaded guilty to trying to join the militant group al-Shabab and to issuing threats to the makers of the “South Park” cartoon series after they penned an episode he found insulting to Islam.
Young also met regularly with Amine El Khalifi, who pleaded guilty in a sting operation in which he planned to attempt a suicide bombing at the US Capitol in 2012.
In 2014, Young met about 20 times with an FBI informant, and gave the source advice on how to avoid detection as he purportedly planned to travel overseas to join the Islamic State. Young frequently advised the source to watch out for informants.
While Young’s arrest is a first for a US law enforcement officer, he is one of more than a half-dozen individuals from northern Virginia alone who have been charged with terror-related crimes, mostly in government sting operations. The FBI says it has ongoing investigations in all 50 states.
(With inputs from AP and Reuters)
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