Tairod Pugh, 49 years old, has been sentenced to 35 years in prison by a US federal court for trying to join the ISIS terrorist group. Tairod is a former technician in the US Air Force.
Tairod considered the court’s decision against him racist.
“I am a black man, I am a military man, I am a Muslim man. I have protected this country and this constitution but all my services were returned with the degradation of my name,” he said.
From its side, the judge saidthat the court relied on strong evidence, and that propaganda videos for ISIS were found on Tairod’s personal computer. Tairod had also published pro-ISIS posts in the social media.
Tairod was arrested by the Turkish Police and was deported quickly to the United States where he bought a one-way ticket from Egypt to Turkey in 2015. The Turkish Police found several maps in his possession showing ISIS territories in Syria alongside border crossings.
Tairod’s specialty was aviation electronics. He served in the US Air Force between 1986 and 1990.