OHIO
A 28-count indictment charged Amir Said Rahman Al-Ghazi aka Robert C. McCollum, 38, with trying to help a terrorist group, ISIS, and other felonies, including
Al-Ghazi, of Sheffield Lake, Ohio, was arrested last month after he attempted to buy an AK-47 from an undercover agent, according to authorities.
Al-Ghazi, who changed his name from Robert McCollum earlier this year, is alleged to have pledged his support to ISIL and Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi via social media in 2014.
From July 2014 to June 2015, officials said Al-Ghazi made multiple statements trying to persuade others to join ISIL. He also expressed his own desire to perpetrate an attack on the United States and had attempted to purchase an AK-47 assault rifle.
Al-Ghazi has communicated with individuals he believed to be members of ISIL in the Middle East and took steps to create propaganda videos for ISIL, according to court documents.
Count one of the indictment charges Al-Ghazi with attempting to provide material support to ISIL. Counts two and three charge Al-Ghazi with being a felon in possession of a firearm. Counts four through 28 pertain to his sale of marijuana from February 2014 through last month, officials allege.
A defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.