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U.S. Air Force veteran accused of trying to join ISIS

 
Published March 18, 2015

NEW YORK — A U.S. Air Force veteran and airplane mechanic plotted to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State group and was arrested on terrorism charges, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.

Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh, 47, of Neptune, N.J., was due today in a New York court after being indicted on charges of attempting to provide material support to a terrorist group and obstructing justice.

Prosecutors said Pugh had been stopped at a Turkish airport in January carrying a laptop with information on Turkey-Syria border crossing points, 180 jihadist videos including footage of an ISIS prisoner beheading, and a letter declaring: "I will use the talents and skills given to me by Allah to establish and defend the Islamic States."

Pugh served in the Air Force from 1986 to 1990. He converted to Islam around 1998, court papers said.

U.S. officials have said about 130 Americans have traveled to Syria or tried to do so since the start of the war in that country. The FBI has aggressively targeted those seeking to support or join militants in Syria.