A Pakistani doctor and former Mayo Clinic research coordinator was arrested Thursday in Minnesota on a terrorism charge, after prosecutors say he told paid FBI informants that he had pledged his allegiance to ISIS and wanted to carry out lone wolf attacks in the United States.
Muhammad Masood, 28, was arrested at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on Thursday by FBI agents and was charged with one count of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.
Prosecutors say Masood was in the US on a work visa. They allege that starting in January, Masood made several statements to paid informants — whom he believed were members of ISIS — pledging his allegiance to the group and its leader. He also allegedly expressed his desire to travel to Syria to fight for ISIS and a desire to carry out lone wolf attacks in the US.
At one point, Masood messaged an informant “there is so much I wanted to do here .. .lon wulf stuff you know ... but I realized I should be on the ground helping brothers sisters kids,” according to an FBI affidavit.
Prosecutors say Masood planned to go to Syria in February. But his plans changed after flight suspensions over the coronavirus outbreak. Masood and one of the informants then developed a plan for him to fly from Minneapolis to Los Angeles to meet with that informant, whom Masood believed would help him travel in a cargo ship into ISIS territory.
Masood was arrested Thursday at the airport after he checked in for his flight to Los Angeles.
Court documents do not name the clinic where Masood worked, but a LinkedIn page for a man with the same name and work history says Masood has worked at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, since February of 2018, first as a research trainee, but has been a clinical research coordinator since May.
A profile on researchgate.net says he has done research in cardiology; he was scheduled to present his research for the Mayo Clinic School of Continuous Professional Development in October 2018, according to an online calendar of the event.
Mayo Clinic spokeswoman Ginger Plumbo said Masood formerly worked at the medical center, but "was not employed by Mayo Clinic at the time of his arrest.”
