Judge orders Afghan man accused of planning Election Day attack in US to remain in custody
OKLAHOMA CITY — An Afghan man accused of plotting US election day attack was ordered to remain in custody Thursday after officials revealed he had previously worked as a security guard for a U.S. military installation in Afghanistan.
Judge Suzanne Mitchell of U.S. District Court in Oklahoma City issued her ruling after hearing testimony from an FBI special agent that Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, of Oklahoma City, and his brother-in-law, a juvenile, took steps to acquire AK-47 guns and ammunition and planned to launch an attack on large crowds on election day next month. Mitchell also determined that there was probable cause to commit Tawhedi for trial.
FBI agent Derek Wiley testified that Tawhedi is also involved in an investigation in France that led to the arrest this month of three people, including two of Tawhedi’s brothers, who authorities say were plotting a terrorist attack in that country. One of those arrested in France, a 22-year-old Afghan who had residence papers in France, was investigated for a suspected plan to attack people in a football stadium or shopping center.
Authorities say both Tawhedi and those arrested in France were inspired by it Ideology of the Islamic State.
The Justice Department previously said Tahwedi entered the US on a special immigrant visa in September 2021, shortly after the Afghan capital Kabul captured by the Talibanand was on parole pending a determination of his immigration status. In court Thursday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Dillon told the judge that Tawhedi had been temporarily allowed into the U.S. while he had a pending application for residency, but that his parole has since been revoked.
“If he were released today, he would be unlawfully in the United States,” Dillon said.
Tawhedi, bearded and with dark tousled hair, was led into the courtroom with his hands cuffed around his waist and flanked by two U.S. marshals. Both he and his lawyer, Craig Hoehns, wore headphones to communicate, and the court provided a Dari language interpreter.
Wiley testified that Tawhedi had been under observation by federal agents for more than 40 days before his Oct. 7 arrest. He said Tawhedi subsequently admitted to investigators that he and his co-conspirator planned their attack to coincide with Election Day next month and that they expected to die as martyrs in the attack.
Wiley said Tawhedi had used the online messaging application Telegram to communicate with an account associated with the Islamic State militant organization that led his actions, and that Tawhedi had pledged allegiance to the group and “would do whatever they told him to do.” ”
In his plea for house arrest pending trial, Hoehns suggested that the only gun Tawhedi ever handled in the US was given to him by a government informant and that Tawhedi had never been arrested or even given a traffic ticket in three years in the US received.
Hoehns said Tawhedi had previously worked as a driver in Dallas and at various oil change locations in Oklahoma City.
France’s national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office has previously said the investigation into the Afghan’s arrest started on September 27, ahead of Tawhedi’s arrest in the US.
In a statement Wednesday, the FBI said the arrests in both countries “demonstrate the importance of partnerships to detect and disrupt potential terrorist attacks.”
“Coordination between U.S. and French law enforcement contributed to these results,” the FBI said.
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Associated Press writer John Leicester in Paris contributed to this report.