A Washington D.C. Metro police officer has been arrested for attempting to aid ISIS. 12-year veteran officer Nicholas Young was caught trying to provide ISIS members with communication devices during an FBI sting. Young reportedly sent $245 worth of Amazon gift cards to an undercover FBI agent believing that the FBI agent was a prominent ISIS member. Young wanted to help ISIS communicate secretly and prevent intelligence officials from tracking their communications.
Young has a bizarre history of showing support for ISIS and other extremist organizations. He was an ISIS sympathizer and supported world-wide terrorist attacks according to transcripts of conversations between the undercover agent and Young. After the Charlie Hebdo attack in France he told the informant “Hopefully now people understand there are some lines you don’t cross.” He also messaged the informant after several of the French terror attacks commending the terrorists and claiming that the attackers were misunderstood.
In 2011 he reportedly traveled to Lybia with body armor and military style clothing, he claims to have joined rebels looking to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi’s regime. In 2014 he made contact with an FBI agent posing as a U.S. military reservist turned ISIS recruiter. He met with the informant 20 times before asking the agent how he could safely send money to terrorists in Syria. Young confided in the agent several times; He spoke about a childhood habit of torturing animals for enjoyment, dressing as a Jihadist for Halloween, and dressing as a Nazi for Halloween in previous years.
The Fairfax, Virginia resident was finally arrested last week. He was officially arrested at transit police headquarters in Washington after Amazon gift cards to undercover agents so they could purchase communication devices. The gift cards were accompanied with a note stating:
“Respond to verify receipt … may not answer depending on when as this device will be destroyed after all are sent to prevent the data being possibly seen on this end in the case of something unfortunate.”
Young is one of 100 Americans that have been charged with attempting to join or assist ISIS in any fashion over the past three years. His employment with the metro police has been terminated as of Wednesday. He will be held in Alexandria until his detention hearing, which is set for Friday at 2 p.m. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and a lifetime of supervised release.
[revad2]
