A former National Guard member accused of lying to the federal government, defacing Jewish religious property in Squirrel Hill and testing a pipe bomb in a State College forest will remain jailed pending trial because of concerns he might pose a threat.
An FBI agent told a federal judge in Pittsburgh that the agency grew concerned Mohamad Hamad might target a military training exercise with explosives.
Hamad, 23, of Moon asked U.S. Magistrate Judge Patricia Dodge to let him stay on house arrest, but at the conclusion Thursday of a two-part detention hearing, she ruled against him, finding that Hamad is a potential threat to the community.
Hamad, an accused Hamas sympathizer, was initially charged in October in federal court with misdemeanor counts of defacing and damaging religious property and conspiracy.
Investigators said he and Talya A. Lubit spray-painted antisemitic graffiti on Chabad of Squirrel Hill and the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh a few months earlier.
At the time, Hamad, who is a dual citizen of the United States and Lebanon, was granted release on home electronic monitoring.
Last week, a federal grand jury issued a superseding indictment against Hamad and Lubit — and added a third co-defendant, Micaiah Collins.
The new indictment tacked on felony charges for Hamad, including conspiracy, possession of a destructive device and making a false statement to an agency of the United States while undergoing a background check for the Pennsylvania Air National Guard.
Following the additional charges, the government asked the court to detain Hamad, arguing that he is a flight risk and poses a danger to the community.
Fearful siblings
A detention hearing on the matter began Tuesday when the U.S. Attorney’s Office presented two witnesses. It ended Thursday morning with both sides making their cases.
FBI Special Agent Gregory Battaglia testified the investigation revealed Hamad bought materials online, built three explosive devices and conducted a test detonation at Rothrock State Forest in State College in July.
The FBI believes Hamad planned to use the devices in the future, Battaglia said, noting he added metal shrapnel to the pipe bomb he set off in the forest.
In one message exchange between Hamad and Lubit, Battaglia said, they discussed an upcoming date for a combat military readiness exercise at the 171st Air Refueling Wing where Hamad was stationed as a guard member.
In the end, Battaglia said, Hamad was not permitted to attend the exercise because he hadn’t yet received his security clearance.
However, Battaglia said, the FBI was concerned that the military training could have been a target for the explosive devices.
Agents said that Hamad ordered bomb-making materials online. In a search of his home, investigators recovered only fuses.
Agents worried they did not find the shells or explosive powder Hamad had purchased, Battaglia testified.
In addition, Battaglia said that on Oct. 30 — the day Hamad was initially charged in the vandalism case — there were screenshots captured on his phone of bomb-making recipes.
Battaglia told the court that investigators found an assortment of violent, pro-Hamas videos through Hamad’s social media and messages and told his friends that he wanted to travel to Palestine and die a martyr.
Other testimony presented by Battaglia included police reports by Moon police officers stemming from an investigation in 2022 when Hamad allegedly threatened his own family members — including by holding a pellet gun to his sister’s head and a knife to his brother’s throat.
“They both stated unequivocally they’re fearful of their brother,” Battaglia read from the report. “Mohamad is physically threatening to his parents, but they are inclined not to report such things.”
Hamad also reportedly pushed his mother.
The matter was later dropped.
Moon police did not return a message seeking comment on that case.
High-stakes situation
U.S. Probation Officer Benjamin Orrison also testified, telling the court Hamad had no violations while he was on pre-trial electronic monitoring following his October arrest.
But Orrison also told the court that Hamad had visited the Valley View Presbyterian Church 10 times in the last few months. That church, the government said, is led by the father of Hamad’s co-defendant, Micaiah Collins.
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“It’s no great leap to conclude Micaiah Collins was there,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Vasquez Schmitt. “This is not someone he should have been meeting with during detention.”
Collins was with Hamad when they test-detonated one of the explosives, the prosecutor said.
“We don’t know exactly what his plans were with the explosives,” Schmitt said.
Schmitt argued that Hamad might pose a threat to the community.
He lied during his background check for the military, has international contacts, bragged about his ability to thwart law enforcement and promotes violent, pro-Hamas content, the prosecutor said.
“If his behavior was escalating before, imagine the tension he’s facing now,” Schmitt said.
Just because he didn’t have any violations on his electronic home monitoring before doesn’t mean that will continue, she said.
“The stakes are so much higher for the defendant.”
But Assistant Federal Public Defender Yemi T. Olaiya argued that much of the information the government presented at her client’s detention hearing was available to investigators when Hamad was initially charged in October.
“The government cannot say it just learned about this alleged information a week ago or a month ago,” she said.
Instead, Olaiya continued, they had it for six months while Hamad was already on home confinement, where he followed the rules set for him — including show up for court and providing his DNA when asked.
“Mr. Hamad has been fully successful in pre-trial release,” Olaiya said.
Allegiance to Hamas
Olaiya said that where her client chooses to worship is protected by the First Amendment, and that the government presented no evidence that Micaiah Collins was at the church when Hamad was.
Olaiya argued that the government only indicted Collins to use as a witness against her client.
As for the threats Hamad allegedly made against his family, Olaiya said the judge should not consider them.
“The simple truth is those charges were dismissed and cannot be used against him here,” she said.
Hamad’s parents were in the courtroom for both days of the hearing supporting their son, Olaiya said. She argued he was not a flight risk, has strong ties to the Pittsburgh community and has proven reliable.
She also noted a number of letters submitted by friends and supporters of Hamad’s, including fellow Muslims, Jews and Christians.
“To detain him now would be nothing short of punitive and an utter misalignment of the law.”
But the judge disagreed, noting that Hamad has professed his allegiance to the terrorist organization Hamas and espoused violent views toward Jews.
Although the defendant can worship anywhere, Dodge called it “interesting” that he chose that particular church.
In her findings, Dodge called the allegations against Hamad serious, and the evidence against him strong.
“I do feel that the stakes are higher now,” Dodge said. “There appears to now be more incentive to flee.”