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[MAIL] An illegal immigrant living in Louisiana allegedly participated in the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.Federal prosecutors say Mahmoud Amin Ya'qub Al-Muhtadi armed himself and gathered a group to cross from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel during the attack that left more than 1,200 people dead.
Hamas fighters also kidnapped more than 250 people, including dozens of American citizens, during the raid.
According to a criminal complaint unsealed this week, Al-Muhtadi was a high-ranking member of the Gaza-based terrorist group Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine - which worked hand-in-hand with Hamas during the attack.
'Evidence shows that on the morning of October 7, 2023, Al-Muhtadi learned about the Hamas invasion, armed himself, gathered others and crossed into Israel with the intention of assisting in Hamas's terrorist attack,' the criminal complaint says.
But when he later applied for a visa to the United States, Al-Muhtadi denied he had ever been involved in terrorist activities - and he became a legal permanent resident in 2024.
Al-Muhtadi was most recently living in Lafayette, Louisiana, where he worked at a restaurant prior to his arrest on Thursday.
He now faces charges for visa fraud and for conspiring to provide support for a foreign terrorist organization, though more charges may be forthcoming as an investigation continues.
Mahmoud Amin Ya'qub Al-Muhtadi has been arrested for allegedly participating in the October 7 attack on Israel and lying about it on his application for a visa to the United States.
The criminal complaint, obtained by the Daily Mail, details how Al-Muhtadi's social media shows he had a yearslong affiliation with the New Resistance Brigades.
He was seen in photographs wearing the red headband of the group, and on December 12, 2019, Al-Muhtadi sent another social media user a message containing what appears to be a photograph of an official New Resistance Brigades form on official letterhead bearing his signature, according to the complaint.
Then in September 2020, Al-Muhtadi sent another social media user the message, 'This is my group,' along with a photo of militants wearing headbands featuring the terrorist group's logo.
When the other social media user asked how many there are, he allegedly replied: 'I have 15 young men.'
By May 27, 2022, another user sent Al-Muhtadi the message: 'The battalions' youth are ready,' the criminal complaint claims.
Other photos allegedly showed him donning a vest labeled 'Wahdat al-Nukhba,' which is the group's elite unit.
'Based on my training and experience, I believe these messages and communications indicate that al-Muhtadi was sufficiently senior in the NRB to have been tasked with training younger militants,' Supervisory Special Agent Alexandria M. Thomas O'Donnell wrote in her affidavit, which was submitted to a federal judge on October 6 of this year. She serves on a task force investigating the murder and kidnapping of American citizens during the attack two years ago.
He then entered the United States in September 2024, under the Biden administration.
Once he entered the US, the affidavit says, an associate advised Al-Muhtadi not to contact anyone from the paramilitary group because he was under surveillance, and to avoid posting on social media in support of Hamas.
The FBI says Al-Muhtadi responded that he could post whatever he wanted, including pictures of Hamas leaders, and he would be safe.
He had been living in Tulsa through May but by early June had relocated to Lafayette.
An unidentified FBI agent then met repeatedly with Al-Muhtadi in Lafayette from July to September this year.
The alleged terrorist appeared in court for the first time on Friday, KATC reports.
He participated in proceedings with the help of a public defender and a translator, indicating that he had not read the affidavit - prompting the judge to read it aloud. When he was then asked if he understood what he was accused of, Al-Muhtadi said he did as he maintained his innocence.
He is now being held at Calcasieu Correctional Center.
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