Prosecutor: Man discussed beheadings; planned police bombing
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A man jailed on terror-related charges pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and talked about his desire to behead people and make a bomb capable of destroying a police station, Alabama prosecutors said.
The revelations came as state authorities outlined their evidence against Aziz Sayyed, 22, during a hearing Wednesday in Huntsville.
Sayyed wanted to blow up a police building in the Huntsville area with the same type of bomb used at the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, on May 22, Madison County Assistant District Attorney Jay Town said at the hearing.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sayyed also "wanted to participate in the beheading of infidels," Town said.
A defense attorney for the North Carolina native is asking a judge to set bail so the man can get out of jail, Al.com reported .
"What I just heard was somebody watched some videos, bought some stuff and said some things, but did nothing," Sayyed's lawyer, Bruce Gardner, told the judge.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sayyed had told friends that he had a sheet of plywood that he planned to use to practice knife-handling skills so that he could behead people, Town told the judge.
Authorities have said they found bomb-making materials in Sayyed's Huntsville apartment. Town said he planned to use them to blow up the law enforcement building.
The bombing would "bring the whole building down," Sayyed said, according to Town.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sayyed is charged with second-degree soliciting or providing help for terrorism.
District Judge Schuyler Richardson is expected to issue a written order at a later date as to whether Sayyed could be freed on bond while awaiting trial.