Terror Plot Suspects Plead Not Guilty, Ordered Held Without Bail

Nicholas Rovinski and David Wright appeared in federal court on Friday

Two men indicted by a grand jury on charges they conspired to help ISIS by plotting with a Boston terror suspect to kill U.S. citizens were ordered held without bail at a court hearing Friday.

Federal authorities Thursday announced the indictments of Nicholas Rovinski of Warwick, Rhode Island, and David Wright of Everett, Massachusetts. The indictments charge Rovinski with one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, and Wright with conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstruction of justice.

Both suspects pleaded not guilty at their detention hearing Friday and were ordered held without bail until a status conference on July 29.

Rovinski and Wright were charged last week with conspiring to provide material support to terrorists by plotting with Boston terror suspect Usaamah Rahim to behead blogger Pamela Geller, who wasn't harmed. Rahim was killed June 2 by investigators who say Rahim lunged at them with a military-style knife.

Through its attorneys, Rahim's family issued a statement Friday morning responding to the indictment. The statement said the family "remains shocked" by the allegations against Rahim.

[CLICK HERE to read the Rahim family's full statement.]

"The Indictment includes several references to and allegations regarding Usaamah Rahim. The family remains shocked by these allegations," the statement reads. "The Supreme Court of the United States has set out specific legal standards to govern acts needed to form criminal intent, to participate in a conspiracy, and to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. No where does the indictment establish a connection between Usaamah Rahim and providing material support to a terrorist organization. Instead, it suggests precisely the opposite: that Usaamah Rahim abandoned any alleged conspiracy to provide material support to ISIL.

"The family is concerned that the indictment elides the legal standards, and sets forth an extremely tenuous link between Usaamah Rahim’s actions and allegations of terrorism. Moreover, they are concerned that law enforcement may have used those tenuous links to violate the procedures required to effect an arrest, ultimately leading to the death of their brother and son."

The family goes on to say in its statement that it is reserving final judgment until it has all of the evidence.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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