YPSILANTI, Mich. – Court records related to the indictment of an Ypsilanti man for possession of a firearm without a serial number indicate the man may have ties to ISIS.
Yousef Mohammed Ramadan, 28, was charged with possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number, which had moved in interstate commerce. The complaint was filed by an agent with the FBI’s counterterrorism team, but Ramadan has not been charged with a terror-related crime.
ORIGINAL REPORT: FBI terror unit finds weapons in Ypsilanti man's storage unit with serial numbers scratched off
Ramadan traveled to the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport with his wife and four children Aug. 15, and purchased six tickets departing to Amman, Jordan, later that day, according to court records.
Transportation Security Administration officials said they discovered a rifle scope and mounts, knives, pepper spray, tactical load-bearing vests, a gas mask, two-way radios, a taser with extra cartridges, a pistol holster, ammunition pouches and black masks in Ramadan's checked luggage prior to his flight to Amman. TSA officials said they also found laptops, external hard drives, SD cards, flash drives, and two phones.
Ramadan was questioned by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and FBI agents and told them he was leaving the United States with his family to relocate to Bethlehem. CBP officials said they searched Ramadan's external media drives and found videos of him shooting firearms, photos of pipe bombs and propaganda relating to ISIS.
Ramadan allegedly told authorities it took about an hour to build a pipe bomb. Ramadan informed officers that he had made IEDs in the past for educational purposes while overseas, according to court records.
He claimed to have purchased the items found in his luggage for personal protection, outdoor use and for making videos for his YouTube channels. One of the channels, WB.88Guns, includes several videos of an individual shooting or handling various types of firearms. A Kimber .45 caliber Covert II pistol is shown in a video posted in Dec. 2016 with the video description claiming ownership of the weapon. Michigan state records confirm that a Kimber pistol is currently registered to Ramadan.
Ramadan stated to FBI agents that he currently owns three weapons -- two rifles and a Glock pistol that he had placed in self-storage before departing for the airport -- but did not acknowledge the Kimber pistol. He then recanted and said he left the firearms with a friend, whose identity he would not disclose, the FBI said.
Devon Self Storage in Ann Arbor confirmed with authorities that the storage locker was accessed the morning of the flight with surveillance footage showing a man driving a Honda Odyssey minivan to the facility. The same make and model minivan is currently registered to Ramadan's sister, Somaya Abufarha.
The storage unit was registered to Ramadan's wife, Jeanine Ramadan, with the emergency contact on the information sheet being listed as "Mohammad Ramadan."
Ramadan was questioned regarding the ISIS propaganda and said he likes to watch combat footage. He told authorities he doesn't believe in ISIS's violent extremist methods, but he does support the goal of establishing a caliphate, saying he would prefer a peaceful approach to converting others into the Muslim religion and forming an Islamic State.
He said he wouldn't go overseas if he wanted to commit an attack because it would be easier to pull off in the U.S.
Ramadan consented to detention and is being held without bond.
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