PHOENIX—Halfway through 2014, three Arizona men were falling under the sway of the Islamic State (ISIS), authorities say.
The trio watched videos depicting violence by jihadists, tried to get pipe bombs, planned an attack at a Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest in Texas last year and researched travel to the Middle East so they could join ISIS fighters, investigators say.
Two of the men brought semiautomatic rifles and an ISIS flag to the May 3 contest featuring cartoons deemed offensive to Muslims and died in a shootout with police before hurting anyone attending the event in suburban Dallas.
The third man goes on trial Tuesday in Phoenix in what is believed to be the first time the U.S. government has put a person on trial on terror charges related to the militant group.
Abdul Malik Abdul Kareem, a 44-year-old moving company owner, is accused of hosting the two gunmen at his home to discuss plans for the attack, going target shooting in the remote Arizona desert with the pair and providing the guns used at the contest.
Prosecutors say Kareem also encouraged Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi to carry out violence in the United States in support of ISIS and inquired about explosives to blow up a stadium in metro Phoenix during the 2015 Super Bowl.
Kareem denies the allegations.
It’s unknown whether the thwarted Texas attack was inspired by ISIS or carried out in response to an order from the group.
