In those years, authorities say, he threatened FBI agents, gave advice to suspected terrorists and mused about joining the Islamic State. But it was not until last week that federal agents concluded that Young, 36, of Fairfax, Va., had committed the crime of attempting to support a terrorist organization. He was arrested at Metro Transit Police headquarters Wednesday and terminated; he appeared in court still wearing part of his patrol uniform. The arrest marks the first time a U.S. law enforcement officer has been accused of trying to aid a terrorist group.
Young, a convert to Islam, sent codes for mobile messaging cards to an undercover federal agent in the belief that they would be used by Islamic State fighters overseas to communicate, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Alexandria.
According to authorities, Young has been with the transit police since 2003.
“Obviously, the allegations in this case are profoundly disturbing. They’re disturbing to me, and they’re disturbing to everyone who wears the uniform,” Metro General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld said in a statement.
Since coming under scrutiny, Young was in touch with FBI agents, an undercover agent and a person working secretly for the agency. His first public conversation with the FBI was in September 2010. From January 2011 to February 2012, he was in touch with an undercover agent.
The investigation appeared to stall for more than a year. Then, in 2014, Young began communicating with a person working for the FBI who pretended to be a disillusioned U.S. military reservist of Middle Eastern descent. That person spoke with Young regularly until October 2014, when he pretended to join the Islamic State abroad. The account he had set up to speak with Young was then taken over by undercover agents.
