(MOBILE, Ala.) - An accused terrorist from Mobile appeared in federal court Thursday. The FBI says Randy Rasheed Wilson, Jr., was planning to wage jihad overseas.
Wilson appeared in shackles and a white jumpsuit Thursday. He was being closely guarded by U.S. Marshals.
One of his family members broke down in tears as Wilson was led out of the courtroom. Wilson and another man are accused of conspiring to provide material to support to terrorists.
According to the affidavit, Wilson's alleged terrorist partner was frustrated with how long it was taking to get overseas. The partner allegedly suggested buying guns, holding hostages in the U.S. and killing them if the government didn't negotiate the release of convicted terrorist.
Wilson was found to be financially indigent, so he was given a court appointed attorney. That attorney, Dom Soto, said he just received the case a couple of hours before. He has about 40 hours of undercover FBI recordings to go through.
But so far, in talking with his client, Soto said he feels like Wilson is very religious but not an extremist or terrorist
"(He) seems like a very nice guy who's very much into his religion. I'll be the first one to tell you, I know very little about Islam, but a lot of the terms in the affidavit, if you've looked at the affidavit, are open to interpretation. Jihad being one of those," Soto said.
In the affidavit, an FBI agent said Wilson rejected that plan. "If you believe the affidavit, he's actually a hero because if the other guy is fomenting some sort of violence, he's the one that's actually like no, don't do that here," said Soto.
Soto also said, he feels that Wilson is very religious, but not an extremist or terrorist. Wilson is scheduled to be back in court Monday for a detention hearing.
