The Lafayette man accused in the Hamas-Israel conflict has been formally charged, records show.
The indictment against Mahmoud Amin Ya'qub Al-Muhtadi was unsealed on Wednesday, ahead of his afternoon detention hearing. Records show the government also has filed several pleadings related to classified information; they're asking the court to appoint a classified information security officer, and to hold a pretrial conference so the parties can discuss how classified information will be handled during the discovery process and at trial.
Al-Muhtadi made his initial appearance in federal court in Lafayette last week. To read our story about that, click here.
Wednesday afternoon, Al-Muhtadi entered formal pleas of not guilty and waived his detention hearing for now. It was Al-Muhtadi who made the motion for the hearing, court records show, but in court Wednesday afternoon he waived the right to have it today. That doesn't mean it can't be held later if another motion is filed.
Al-Muhtadi is accused in the indictment of conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization resulting in death and visa fraud. There's also a forfeiture charge in the indictment, seeking any property or funds that Al-Muhtadi made or used in the commission of the alleged crimes.
The conspiracy charge alleges that he conspired with Hamas in October 2023 in the attack on Israel that happened that month. The visa fraud charge alleges he lied about having terrorist skills, training and affiliation on his visa application.
The charges mirror the original complaint that was filed against him last week; the indictment was filed on Friday but wasn't entered into the record until Wednesday.
The original complaint is based on an affidavit written by an FBI agent assigned to the U.S. Attorney General's Joint Task Force that is focused on the October 2023 attack. In it, she outlines the allegations of the government againsit Al-Muhtadi, including videos, photos, cell phone data, information gathered via search warrants on his social media and email accounts, and transcripts of recordings the FBI obtained of cell phone conversations attributed to him. She also used information from interviews and information received from Israel, she wrote.
The FBI agent identifies Al-Muhtadi as "an operative for the National Resistance Brigades, which she describes as the military wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine. It was Israel that identified him as an operative for these organizations, she wrote.
Here's the indictment. To read the affidavit, scroll down.
Here's the complaint and affidavit:
