New York Daily News – by John Marzulli
A Brooklyn judge ordered a suspected American militant who pledged allegiance to the terrorist leader of ISIS held without bail after he was arrested at Kennedy Airport, the Daily News has learned.
FBI agents nabbed Donald Ray Morgan, a 44-year-old ex-convict from North Carolina, on Aug. 2 when he returned to the United States after an eight-month stay in Lebanon, where his wife lives.
Morgan, who has a previous conviction for firing a gun, had allegedly been brokering deals for military-grade weapons and ammo in his home state and was indicted for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
But what caught counter-terrorism agents attention were his chilling Twitter rants from the Middle East under the alias “Abu Omar al Amreeki.”
Assistant Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Nadia Moore presented a sampling of the evidence to Magistrate Ramon Reyes at a bail hearing last week to support her argument that the alleged gun trafficker was too dangerous to return to North Carolina on his own.
“It’s possible that he traffics in guns to people in this organization (ISIS),” Moore said in Brooklyn Federal Court.
Besides pledging allegiance to chief ISIS thug Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, his tweets strongly suggested he may have been preparing for jihad in Syria, Iraq or possibly the states, law enforcement officials feared.
He also referred to himself as a mujahedeen, or jihad fighter.
Federal defender Peter Kirchheimer said there was no evidence Morgan is a member of ISIS or had provided material support.
But the judge said the tweets had “clearly implied to me that he is trying to go to Syria or Iraq as the next step and trying to be actively engaged.”
[DNBYLINE]BY JOHN MARZULLI
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
[DNLEDETEXT]A BROOKLYN judge ordered a suspected American militant who pledged allegiance to the terrorist leader of ISIS held without bail after he was arrested at Kennedy Airport, the Daily News has learned.
FBI agents nabbed Donald Ray Morgan, a 44-year-old ex-convict from North Carolina, on Aug. 2 when he returned to the United States after an eight-month stay in Lebanon, where his wife lives.
Morgan, who has a previous conviction for firing a gun, had allegedly been brokering deals for military-grade weapons and ammo in his home state and was indicted for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
But what caught counter-terrorism agents’ attention were his chilling Twitter rants from the Middle East under the alias “Abu Omar al Amreeki.”
Assistant Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Nadia Moore presented a sampling of the evidence to Magistrate Ramon Reyes at a bail hearing last week to support her argument that the alleged gun trafficker was too dangerous to return to North Carolina on his own.
“It’s possible that he traffics in guns to people in this organization (ISIS),” Moore said in Brooklyn Federal Court.
Besides pledging allegiance to chief ISIS thug Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, his tweets strongly suggested he may have been preparing for jihad in Syria, Iraq or possibly the states, law enforcement officials feared.
“Allah give me martyrdom wherever I may be,” Morgan tweeted last month.
He also referred to himself as a mujahedeen , or jihad fighter.
“Allah you brought me here and I need the rest of my journey to join the ranks withthe most beautiful brothers on Earth.”
“To the brothers inside Syria and Iraq be humble and grateful many of us are trying to come as some are arrested and others delayed,” he tweeted.
“Honestly can we not kill one piece of crap Zionist?” he tweeted.
FBI agents questioned Morgan for hours last week at 26 Federal Plaza in lower Manhattan about his knowledge of Muslim militants overseas and if he knew of any who had entered the United States.
“I take it that was the $64 million question and he said he didn’t have a clue,” said federal defender Peter Kirchheimer, adding that there was no evidence Morgan is a member of ISIS or had provided material support.
But the judge said the tweets had “clearly implied to me that he is trying to go to Syria or Iraq as the next step and trying to be actively engaged.”