The judge orders that an Afghan man accused of plotting an Election Day attack in the United States remain in custody

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An Afghan man accused of planning an Election Day attack in the United States was ordered to remain in custody Thursday as officials revealed he previously worked as a security guard for an American military facility in Afghanistan had.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Suzanne Mitchell in Oklahoma City issued her decision 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 obtain AK-47s Rifles to obtain ammunition and planned to carry out an attack on large crowds on Election Day next month. Mitchell also concluded there was probable cause to put Tawhedi on trial.

FBI agent Derek Wiley testified that Tawhedi is also connected to an investigation in France that led to the arrest this month of three people, including two of Tawhedi’s brothers, who authorities say were involved in a terrorist attack in that country planned. One of those arrested in France, a 22-year-old Afghan with residence documents in France, was being investigated for an alleged plan to attack people in a football stadium or shopping center.

Authorities say both Tawhedi and those arrested in France were inspired by Islamic State ideology.

The Justice Department previously said that Tahwedi entered the United States on a special immigrant visa in September 2021, shortly after the Taliban captured the Afghan capital Kabul, and was released on parole pending the determination of his immigration status. In court Thursday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Dillon told the judge that Tawhedi was allowed to enter the U.S. temporarily while his residency application was pending, but his probation status has since been revoked.

“If he were released today, he would be in the United States illegally,” 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 attorney, Craig Hoehns, wore headsets to communicate, and the court provided a Dari interpreter.

Wiley testified that Tawhedi was under surveillance by federal agents for more than 40 days before his arrest on Oct. 7. He said Tawhedi subsequently admitted to investigators that he and his co-conspirator had planned their attack for election day next month and that they expected to die as martyrs in the attack.

Wiley said Tawhedi used the online messaging application Telegram to communicate with an account linked to the Islamic State militant organization that directed his actions, and that Tawhedi pledged allegiance to the group and “would do anything “what they told him”.

Hoehns argued for home detention while he awaited trial, suggesting that the only gun Tawhedi ever handled in the U.S. was given to him by a government informant and that Tawhedi spent three years has never been arrested or even received a traffic fine in the USA

Hoehns said Tawhedi previously worked as a rideshare driver in Dallas and at several oil change locations in Oklahoma City.

France’s national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office has previously said its investigation leading to the Afghan’s arrest was launched on September 27, before 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 prevent potential terrorist attacks.”

“Coordination between the law enforcement agencies of the United States and France contributed to these results,” the FBI said.

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Associated Press writer John Leicester in Paris contributed to this report.