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Accused ISIS sympathizer from Suffolk indicted

Posted at 10:53 AM, Jan 04, 2017
and last updated 2017-01-04 17:31:39-05

NORFOLK, Va. - A man accused of trying to help ISIS was in federal court on Wednesday afternoon.

He was denied bond and also has now been indicted by a grand jury.

A defense attorney argued Williams had made no specific plan, but prosecutors say he had talked about trying to carry out a martyrdom in the area. A judge denied him bond.

Lionel Williams

Lionel Williams

Williams was arrested in December and is charged with trying to provide support to ISIS. Court documents say he had been posting videos and content in support of ISIS on Facebook. He had also been talking with an FBI-controlled account on Facebook and even met with an undercover agent, according to the court documents.

The FBI has a Joint Terrorism Task Force in Hampton Roads, according to the department's spokesperson. "We continued to work with our local, state, and federal partners to ensure the safety of our community," FBI spokesperson Tina Pullen said.

As Rep. Scott Taylor was getting set to take office, he acknowledged the threat from ISIS in America. "Never before has an individual had the computing power that they have," he said through a Skype interview. "Never before have they been able to communicate with like minded individuals around the world."

Related: Local religious communities respond to ISIS church threats