Opening Statements Presented At NJ Air Force Vet's Terror Trial
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A prosecutor in New York City says a U.S. Air Force veteran wanted to join the Islamic State group and die a martyr, but the defense calls the federal case fantasy.
The differing portrayals came during opening statements Monday at the trial of Tairod Pugh in Brooklyn.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Bini told an anonymous jury that Pugh went to Turkey intending to travel to Syria and join the Islamic State. He says Pugh destroyed four computer flash drives when he realized he was being scrutinized by authorities.
Pugh was stopped at a Turkish airport in January 2015 carrying a laptop containing information on Turkey-Syria border crossing points as well as 180 jihadist propaganda videos, including one featuring an Islamic State prisoner beheading, according to an indictment.
In a letter addressed to a woman investigators believe is Pugh's Egyptian wife, Pugh declared: "I will use the talents and skills given to me by Allah to establish and defend the Islamic States," according to court papers.
"There is only two possible outcomes for me," said the letter, which was recovered from his computer. "Victory or martyr."
Defense lawyer Eric Creizman said his client is innocent and was not going to Syria. He said Pugh went to Turkey with a resume and his Air Force credentials looking for work, 1010 WINS' Juliet Papa reported.
He warned jurors that some of Pugh's opinions are offensive, but he says Pugh does not believe in killing civilians.
Creizman said "you don't punish someone in this country for thoughts or ideas," Papa reported.
Pugh is an American citizen and served in the Air Force for four years from 1986 to 1990, working as a mechanic.
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