A Virginia man from Pakistan was accused of supporting a radical Islamist terrorist group behind the 2008 shooting attack in Mumbai, India, NBC News reported.
The FBI began investigating 24-year-old Jubair Ahmad about two years ago on a tip that he could be connected to the group Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, which is recognized by the federal government as a threat to the U.S.
In September 2010, Ahmad produced a propaganda video and posted it on YouTube on behalf of the group. It showed its leader and claimed to show "jihadi martyrs" and armored trucks exploding from improvised explosive devices, according to court documents. He later revised it and reposted it, the Associated Press reported. Jubair denied involvement with the video when questioned, investigators said.
Authorities arrested Ahmad at his Woodbridge apartment Friday. He is charged with providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization and making false statements in a terrorism investigation. He faces up to 23 years in prison if convicted of both charges.
Ahmad received religious training from the group as a teenager in Pakistan and later attended one of its training camps, according to the Justice Department. He moved to the U.S. with his family in 2007.
In court Friday afternoon, Ahmad said he couldn't afford an attorney but expects the Council on American-Islamic Relations to provide one. The court appointed the Federal Public Defender's Office to represent him in the meantime.
Ahmad was ordered to be held in custody until his next court appearance Wednesday.
