PHOENIX – Attorneys are scheduled to make closing arguments Friday at the trial of an Arizona man charged with plotting an attack at a Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest in Texas.
Abdul Malik Abdul Kareem is accused of hosting two friends at his home to discuss plans for the May 3 attack in Garland, Texas. Investigators say Kareem provided the guns used in the attack and went target shooting with two friends who were later killed in a police shootout outside the contest.
READ MORE: Man charged with helping plan shooting at Muhammad cartoon contest in Texas
He also is charged with providing support to the Islamic State terrorist group.
The 44-year-old moving company owner denies the allegations, and his attorneys maintain that the government is using guilt through association to target their client.
Kareem’s case is the first in which the U.S. government has tried a person on charges related to the Islamic State.
A trial in New York that started halfway through Kareem’s trial concluded Wednesday with a guilty verdict against a U.S. military veteran charged with attempting to join the terrorist group.