Federal authorities say two people taken into custody at the Golden Triangle Regional Airport on Saturday intended to fly to the Middle East and join Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) operatives in Syria.
Muhammad Oda Dakhlalla, 22, and Jaelyn Del’shaun Young, 20, both Starkville residents, appeared in an Oxford court Monday for a probable cause hearing in which officials allege the duo conspired to provide material support to a terrorist organization.
Under federal law, anyone convicted of the crime faces up to 20 years in prison.
“If the death of any person results, (the convicted) shall be imprisoned for any term of years or for life,” federal law also states.
The probable cause hearing Monday continued this morning. The results of the proceeding were unavailable at press time, however a federal judge denied Dakhlalla and Young bond.
The criminal complaint against Dakhlalla and Young — which was signed by a FBI special agent Saturday — is sealed. However, The Dispatch was able to obtain a copy of it Monday from an anonymous source who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to release it.
Details of plan
Dakhlalla and Young were arrested about 6:30 a.m. Saturday at GTRA before they were to board a plane bound for the Middle East, via Atlanta and another connecting flight in Europe.
The criminal complaint shows FBI agents began tracking both Young’s and Dakhlalla’s social media posts and interacting with the suspects in May and June. At least one federal investigator posed online as a middleman for ISIL while communicating with the duo.
In May, Young allegedly told an FBI agent she was “preparing for hijjrah,” a common reference to journeying to the Islamic State, and planned to make the trip, accompanied by a companion, before August.
Obtaining funding and passports for the trip — at one point Young told investigators the couple planned to use a honeymoon in Greece as a cover story — delayed their efforts until they allegedly purchased tickets for a Delta Airlines flight from Columbus to Istanbul, Turkey, with connections in Atlanta and the Netherlands, on or about Friday, the complaint states.
From there, it alleges they planned to cross the border into Syria.
“We live in a small town with a very small airport that doesn’t have much, if any, security…,” Young allegedly told investigators via social media on Aug. 4. “That’s one U.S. weakness — small towns’ airports have poor funding and less educated staff so it is easier to get through.”
Young allegedly told investigators that once within Dawlah — ISIL’s preferred name for its organization — the duo “would love to help with giving medical aid to the injury (sic).”
The complaint also states Young praised the July 16 attacks on two military installations in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where five U.S. military personnel were shot to death.
She allegedly wrote to an investigator: “What makes me feel bettee (sic) after just watching the news is that an akhi carried out an attack against U.S. marines in TN! Alhamdulillah, the numbers of supporters are growing.”
Dakhlalla, who the complaint states offered his services with computers, education and media, also allegedly wrote to investigators on July 13 that he wished “to be a mujahid akhi” and said, “I am willing to be fight. I want to be taught what it really means to have that heart in battle!”
Both confessed to attempting to travel abroad and join ISIL, the complaint states.
Who are Dakhlalla and Young?
The Dispatch visited Dakhlalla’s family residence Sunday on Herbert Street in Starkville, but a relative declined to comment, saying the family had been told not to by an attorney.
Multiple sources have told The Dispatch that Dahklalla’s father is the imam of the Islamic Center of Mississippi, a mosque located in Starkville, but his name was not listed on the organization’s website. The Dispatch called the Islamic Center of Mississippi this morning but received no answer.
Both suspects are former Mississippi State University students. MSU Chief Communications Officer Sid Salter told The Dispatch on Monday that the FBI reached out to the university for information on both students shortly after their arrest. The complaint itself does not reference the university.
Dakhlalla, a Starkville High School graduate, earned a psychology degree from MSU in the spring. University officials said he was accepted into graduate school but not enrolled at the time of his arrest.
A financial affidavit Dakhlalla filled out and signed for the court states he has been unemployed since the fall of 2012.
Young also last attended MSU in 2015. As a sophomore, she majored in chemistry. The Vicksburg Post newspaper reported that she graduated in 2013 from Warren Central High School, where she was an honor roll student and senior homecoming maid. The financial affidavit Young filled out and signed states that she has been unemployed since June.
The pair claim that between the two of them, they have $490, according to their financial affidavits.
Citing an ongoing investigation, FBI officials have declined to comment on the incident since Sunday.
Dispatch reporter Alex Holloway and Andrew Hazzard contributed to this report.
R.J. Morgan, a stringer with The Dispatch, also contributed from Oxford.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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