WASHINGTON, May 15 (UPI) -- An Iraqi-born Texas man who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and lied about to the FBI about it was arrested, according to a criminal complaint.
Bilal Abood, 37, a naturalized American citizen,was charged with lying to a federal agent after he denied he had pledged loyalty to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on June 19, 2014. The FBI said he wrote on Twitter, "I pledge obedience to the Caliphate Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi." Abood, who lives in Mesquite, located just outside of Dallas, faces up to eight years in prison.
Abood was once a translator for the American military in Iraq before moving to the United States in 2009. Investigators said he tried to travel to Iraq in March 2013, but was not allowed to board the flight at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. He told the FBI he was going to visit family and denied plans to fight for the IS, the complaint said. Days later, he acknowledged he intended to travel to Syria to fight with the Free Syrian Army. The next month, the FBI learned from an informant he watched IS videos and said he wanted to support it, the complaint said.
He then traveled through Mexico and other countries to make it to Syria, the complaint said. When he returned in 2013, he told the FBI he stayed in a Free Syrian Army camp and fought with the group, according to the complaint. About 10 months later, the FBI searched his computer and allegedly found his pledge. About nine months passed before an agent questioned Abood about the pledge.
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The case against Abood highlights the new stance federal counterterrorism officials are taking in the wake of the recently attempted terrorist attack in Garland, Texas. FBI Director James Comey recently ordered counterterrorism investigators to take a closer look at cases of people already being tracked and remove potential threats off the streets instead of waiting to monitor suspects. Abood's case was in an advanced investigation, officials said.
