Former Mayo Clinic researcher indicted on terrorism charge after telling FBI informants he wanted to carry out attacks

[Valin]

Washington Examiner

Zachary Halaschak

May 16, 2020

A former Mayo Clinic research coordinator has been charged for attempting to provide support to a terrorist group.

Muhammad Masood, 28, was indicted Friday after investigators said he told undercover informants that he planned to carry out terrorist attacks in the United States. The Pakistani doctor has been jailed since he was arrested in March at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, according to the New York Post. He was initially charged by criminal complaint at the time, and he has been in custody ever since.

The Mayo Clinic said Masood had worked there in the past, but at the time of his arrest, he was no longer employed by the medical center.

Investigators said Masood told informants he wanted to go to Syria to help the Islamic State. He allegedly said he wanted to carry out lone wolf attacks in the U.S. but decided to go to ISIS’s hub in Syria instead. Prosecutors said Masood was originally planning to travel to the war-torn country through Jordan but reassessed after the country shut down its borders because of the coronavirus pandemic.

(Snip)