Texas man accused of trying to support ISIS ordered held pending trial
A 21-year-old Texas man accused of trying to support ISIS with bomb components and money has been ordered held pending his trial on an international terrorism offense, online court records show.
John Michael Garza Jr., of Midlothian, was charged last week by federal complaint with attempting to provide material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization.
During a detention and preliminary hearing in federal court in Dallas on Tuesday, the judge ordered Garza held pending trial, citing the nature of the alleged offense and finding that the defendant's release poses a serious danger to the community, court filings show.
The court found that the government "satisfied its burden to show that no conditions of supervision would mitigate the risk posed by Mr. Garza's conduct and his desire to support a designated foreign terrorist organization," U.S. Magistrate Judge Brian McKay wrote in the detention order.
ABC News has reached out to Garza's attorney for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Garza was arrested following a Dec. 22 sting operation, according to the federal complaint.
The investigation began in mid-October, when an undercover New York City Police Department employee began engaging with an Instagram account allegedly belonging to Garza that "followed several pro-ISIS Instagram accounts and wrote a comment on a pro-ISIS post," according to the complaint. The NYPD employee portrayed himself as an ISIS fighter in Iraq, according to the complaint.
Over the next several weeks, Garza allegedly sent the undercover NYPD employee "official ISIS media releases," a video depicting a suicide vehicle bombing and a bomb-making instructional video, and "shared that he ascribed to the ISIS ideology," the Justice Department said on Monday in a press release announcing the charge.
The DOJ accused Garza of sending "small sums" of cryptocurrency -- including several payments worth approximately $20, according to the complaint -- to the undercover NYPD employee in November and December, allegedly believing that he was supporting ISIS causes, such as buying firearms.
The NYPD reported the online communications to the FBI Dallas Division, according to the complaint.
On Dec. 22, Garza allegedly brought bomb-making materials -- a bottle of acetone, hydrogen peroxide and sulfuric acid -- to a meeting in a Dallas park with an undercover FBI agent purportedly believed to be an ISIS "brother," according to the complaint. He is accused of giving the items and then sending an instructional video on how to build a bomb to the undercover agent, according to the complaint.
Garza was taken into custody at his home shortly after the meeting, according to the DOJ. If convicted, he faces a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.
"The increasing threats of harm and destruction in our country made by those aligned with violent ideologies must be stopped," Ryan Raybould, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, said in a statement on Monday. "This operation is but one example highlighting the necessity of vigilant observation and swift action to halt what could have been a devastating outcome."
