A newlywed Mississippi couple has been arrested for attempting to flee the U.S. to Syria to become members of the Islamic State using their honeymoon as an alibi, court papers state.
Jaelyn Delshaun Young, 20, and Muhammad Oda Dakhalla, 22, were arrested this weekend in Mississippi before they were able to board their flight at Golden Triangle Regional Airport en route to Turkey. The Federal Bureau of Investigation reported that the couple was planning to cross the border to Syria afterwards. They are held without bail, according to the Wall Street Journal.
FBI agents knew of their plan beforehand, as the couple was communicating online with who they thought were members of ISIS. Young said to the undercover FBI agent that she wanted to pledge her loyalty to the terrorist organization and giving medical aid to their injured soldiers, according to the affidavit.
"I am skilled in math and chemistry and worked at an analytical lab here at my college campus,'' she supposedly wrote. "My partner is very good with like computer science/media.''
Young and Dakhalla are both former students of the Mississippi State University. Dalhalla already graduated with a psychology degree, and Young is in her sophomore year studying chemistry. University spokesperson Sid Salter said that the university was contacted in advance by the MSU Police about the couple's arrest, CNN reported.
Magistrate Judge S. Allan Alexander of Oxford, Miss. ordered the two to be detained without bail, citing evidence of having a thorough and organized plan. The couple faces potential charges by a federal grand jury, The New York Times reported.
In another case of Americans attempting to aid ISIS, Abdella Ahmad Tounisi, 21, from Illinois, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to attempting to supply the group with materials in April 2013. Adam Dandach, 21, pleaded guilty to the same charges on Monday.
Eileen M. Decker, a United States attorney of the Central District of California said, "This case demonstrates the need for continued vigilance and swift action to fight the false allure of foreign terrorist organizations that threaten the security of the United States," Eileen M. Decker, a U.S. attorney of the Central District of California, said in a statement.
