http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/alleged-teen-terrorist-waives-bond-hearing-12427877.php
Alleged teen terrorist waives bond hearing
FBI informant said U.S.-born defendant hoped to be a martyr for ISIS
Updated 12:06 pm, Thursday, December 14, 2017
An 18-year-old Houston man who allegedly slept with a machete under his pillow and plotted a violent attack on U.S. soil in the name of ISIS appeared in federal court Thursday briefly to waive his right to a bond hearing.
Kaan Sercan Damlarkaya, who was born in the United States and is the child of U.S. citizens, stood shackled before U.S. Magistrate Judge Dena Hanovice Palermo in Houston in an olive green jail-issue jumpsuit for a swift three-minute hearing.
His lawyer, Ashley Kaper, of the federal public defender's office, said her client wished to waive his right to a hearing, meaning he'll await trial in federal custody and federal agents won't outline their allegations in open court.
The judge asked him a series of rapid-fire questions, to see if he understood he was forgoing constitutionally guaranteed rights.
"Yes, m'am," he answered four times in a soft voice each time, directing his glace at the judge.
A federal prosecutor told the judge he anticipated the trial currently set for Feb. 12 would last three to four days.
On Wednesday, a federal grand jury indicted Damlarkaya of one count of providing material support to terrorists, two counts of attempting to provide material support to ISIS and two counts of unlawfully distributing explosive information, the U.S. Justice Department said in a statement.
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Damlarkaya faces up to 15 years in prison for providing material support to terrorists, the Justice Department said, and the other four charges each carry a maximum, 20-year sentence. All five charges carry potential, $250,000 fines, the Justice Department said.
Ashley Kaper, the federal public defender who represents Damlarkaya, declined to comment on the allegations.
He is the eighth person in Texas and third person in the Houston area charged with supporting ISIS, according to Seamus Hughes, an expert on homegrown terrorism plots at George Washington University's Program on Extremism.
The two other cases moved swiftly through the docket. Last week, Asher Abid Khan, 23, of Spring, a mechanical engineering student at the University of Houston, pleaded guilty to attempting to join the jihadist fight in Syria on behalf of ISIS. Another man, Omar Faraj Saeed Al Hardan, 25, is scheduled to be sentenced Monday, Dec. 18 after pleading guilty last year to an ISIS bomb plot in the Houston area.
BOMB PLOT: FBI says teen planned local attack after he failed make it to Syrian front with ISIS
Authorities say Damlarkaya tried to join ISIS abroad or to plan an attack in the United States. According to court documents, Damlarkaya told a federal informant online that he wanted to die in "martyrdom" and had planned a firearms attack in the United States.
Federal investigators say Damlarkaya tried to reach ISIS in Syria in 2014 and again in 2015. He also purchased the parts to make a homemade AK-47, discussed bomb-making online and contemplated attacks with Samurai swords or machetes, stating that "not all of us can get a gun or make explosives, but we can afford to buy a $15 knife."
During these discussions in August, he asked an FBI source to publish a farewell video for him, if he died in an attack, according to the criminal complaint.
Gabrielle Banks covers federal court for the Houston Chronicle. Send her news tips at gabrielle.banks@chron.com and follow her on Twitter.
Robert Downen is a metro reporter at the Houston Chronicle. Send him news tips at robert.downen@chron.com.
