Man living in Louisiana tied to terrorist attacks back in court Wednesday

LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) — The man arrested in Lafayette and accused of participating in a Hamas terrorist attack in Israel is going back to court tomorrow.

The preliminary hearing and detention hearing for Mahmoud Amin Ya’qub Al-Muhtadi will take place at 1 p.m. Wednesday before Magistrate Judge Carol Whitehurst in federal district court in Lafayette.

Al-Muhtadi is accused of being part of the military wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which carried out one of a series of terrorist attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed over 1,200 people.

He is being held in the St. Martin Parish jail, where U.S. Marshals have been ordered to accommodate Al-Muhtadi’s request for a Halal diet, daily prayers and fasting under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Al-Muhtadi, who is also charged with visa fraud, allegedly submitted an electronic U.S. visa application in June 2024 in which he denied serving in any paramilitary organization or having ever engaged in terrorist activities.

Part of Louisiana’s congressional delegation has sent a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem requesting a briefing on how Al-Muhtadi entered the country.

The letter, released by House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and co-signed by Senators Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy, and Representatives Clay Higgins and Julia Letlow, blames the Biden administration for allowing Al-Muhtadi into the country. In a statement, Scalise said the Biden administration “fast-tracked this terrorist to become a permanent resident living in Louisiana.”

“We would also like to be informed about any additional terrorist threats in our state due to President Biden’s dangerous and deadly immigration policies,” the letter read.

Read the letter in its entirety here.

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