Air Force Veteran Charged with Attempting to Join ISIS [+video]
A former avionics specialist with the U.S. Air Force is accused of attempting to join the Islamic State.
Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh, 47, was charged in federal court in Brooklyn on Monday.
Pugh, who worked for several companies as an airplane mechanic, had been living overseas for one year before he was arrested in January while in Asbury Park, New Jersey.
“Born and raised in the United States, Pugh allegedly turned his back on his country and attempted to travel to Syria in order to join a terrorist organization,” U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch said in a statement. “We will continue to vigorously prosecute extremists, whether based here or abroad, to stop them before they are able to threaten the United States and its allies.”
On January 10, Pugh traveled from Egypt to Turkey in an effort to cross the border into Syria to join ISIL, according to the federal complaint. (Read more from “Air Force Veteran Charged with Attempting to Join ISIS” HERE)
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