TEXAS
A Palestinian born Iraqi who was given refugee status in the United States has been charged with getting machine gun training from ISIS and lying about it to authorities, officials announced today.
Omar Faraj Saeed Al Hardan, 24, was named in a three-count indictment alleging that he attempted to provide support to the Islamic State of Iraq or ISIS.
The three-count indictment was returned Wednesday and unsealed today.
Al Hardan entered the United States as an Iraqi refugee on or about Nov. 2, 2009. He was granted legal permanent residence status on or about Aug. 22, 2011, and resides in Houston.
The indictment alleges that Al Hardan attempted to provide support and resources, including training, expert advice and assistance, and personnel – specifically himself – to a known foreign terrorist organization.
According to the allegations, he swore untruthfully on his formal application when applying to become a naturalized U.S. citizen.
He allegedly represented that he was not associated with a terrorist organization when, in fact, he associated with ISIS throughout 2014, according to the charges.
The indictment further alleges that during an interview in October 2015, Al Hardan falsely represented that he had never received any type of weapons training, when he allegedly received automatic machine gun training.
If convict on all the charges, the defendant is facing up to 45 years in prison, according to officials.
Al Hardan is presumed innocent until proven guilty.