quote: A 33-year-old man with the same name was held on Thursday at St. Martin Parish Correctional Center, near Lafayette, La., where Mr. al-Muhtadi lived, according to inmate records.
quote: In the criminal complaint, the F.B.I. agent presented transcripts of Mr. al-Muhtadi’s telephone calls on the morning of Oct. 7, 2023. In one instance, Mr. al-Muhtadi told a man that morning to “get ready” and that “the borders are open,” the complaint said. Mr. al-Muhtadi told another man to “bring the rifles” to participate in the attack, according to the complaint. Another message from him read, “If you have a full magazine, bring it to me,” and another asked for a bulletproof vest for someone else, according to the complaint. The complaint also said that Mr. al-Muhtadi’s phone, which used the Gaza-based mobile carrier Jawwal, was connected to an Israeli cell tower later that morning. While Mr. al-Muhtadi has not been accused of killing anyone, the complaint said that at least 60 people, including some Americans, were killed that day in an Israeli kibbutz near the cell tower.
quote: Mr. al-Muhtadi made his way to the United States last year on an immigrant visa, according to the complaint. A person named Mahmoud Almuhtadi, living in Cairo, electronically signed a U.S. visa application on June 26, 2024, the complaint said. The application indicated that he had been born in Gaza in 1991, lived there until March 2024 and had no history of serving in a paramilitary unit or engaging in terrorist activities. Louisiana’s inmate records show that the man who was in custody on Thursday had the same birth date. Mr. al-Muhtadi entered the United States through Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on Sept. 12, 2024, the complaint added, citing Customs and Border Protection records. The complaint said that Mr. al-Muhtadi resided in Tulsa, Okla., as of May 2025. There, he posted photographs of himself and his children posing with a Glock pistol, the complaint said. In June, F.B.I. agents located him in Lafayette, La., where he appeared to be working at a restaurant, according to the complaint.
If a baw working at a restaurant in Lafayette who takes pictures with his kids holding glocks isn’t then I don’t even know what a Louisiana man is anymore.
I remember some kid from Palestine threatening to stab me in HS because I was ignorant and asked if Gaza was a part of Israel. Like an innocent question when I was 15.
I remember this Arab kid who worked at the gas station near me in Mobile who asked me on time if I was Jewish because I had grown my beard out and I guess looked orthodox. When I said no, he said “Good, because I would’ve had to go get my people and a baseball bat.”. Dude just said this openly at a shell station that used to be owned by a nice older American couple. Now it’s like stepping into the Middle East.
And this is just how they openly act as a small minority. Why are they even here in fricking ALABAMA.
quote: We need to know what Lafayette restaurant would hire someone like this?
Two very different possibilities: 1) He appeared to have a valid immigration visa. There is no reason the restaurant could have known about his terrorist past.
2) The owners/managers of the restaurant knew exactly who he was, and were providing safe haven to him.
I was reading comments on facebook about this story and people are saying this is a white guy….even with the photo they are still saying that he is white.
This terrorist was able to leave Gaza for Egypt sometime between October, 2023, and June, 2024.
How did this guy get out of Gaza? If he had lived in Gaza his whole life (which was on his application, but is obviously questionable), how did he get his whole family out of Gaza? How much did it cost to get out? How was he able to bring his children to the US?
This is a major immigration failure. It is also telling that it is going to be very difficult to root out Hamas and associated groups if this guy can get from Gaza to Egypt when Israel had all the crossings closed.
Another question I have is why did he choose Lafayette of all places. He must have support in the area. Friends, relatives, sympathizers? He wouldn't have just come here alone. That means there are more of them here.
You go to the wrong neighborhoods btw Gretna and Westwego, and you could be forgiven for thinking you were in the durka durka westbank and not the yat westbank.