COLUMBUS, Miss., Aug. 12 (UPI) — Two former Mississippi State University (MSU) students have been charged with assisting terrorism, accused of trying to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State.
The couple appeared Tuesday before a judge, who denied them bail because of their stated desire to support terrorism. Young and Dakhlalla are U.S. citizens and residents of Starkville, Miss.
They are in the custody of federal marshals.
The couple originally appeared in federal court Monday, charged with attempting to provide aid and materials to a foreign terrorist group.
Muhammed Oda Dakhlalla, 22, and Jaelyn De’Shaun Young, 20, sought to get married in Turkey and then cross over into Syria to join the IS. They were detained at the Golden Triangle Regional Airport, around 6:30 a.m. Saturday, where they planned to board a flight to Atlanta.
Dakhlalla graduated from MSU in the spring with a degree in psychology, while Young used to study chemistry there. Young is the daughter of a Mississippi police officer. Dakhlalla is the son of a local imam.
Court documents state that undercover FBI agents first interacted online with Young in June, when she expressed a desire to travel to Syria. Young said Dakhlalla could be an asset to the IS’ social media department by more accurately reporting its happenings. Dakhlalla told another undercover FBI agent that he is good with computers and that he was willing to fight on behalf of the IS.
Additional FBI releases show that Young praised the July 16 attacks at military installations in Chattanooga, Tenn. She confessed to planning to take a bus into Syria so as to avoid suspicion.
Senior intelligence officials also told Congress in June that the IS is increasingly using social media to recruit new followers in the United States.
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