A US man known for posting violent jihadist songs on the internet was arrested on charges of biting two FBI agents, officials said.
According to a criminal complaint, FBI agents approached Emerson Begolly, 21, while he was sitting alone in the passenger seat of a car in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant in New Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on Tuesday.
The agents wanted to interview Begolly as part of an unspecified criminal investigation. After the agents identified themselves, Begolly screamed and reached for something they believed was a gun. During a struggle, Begolly bit the two federal agents, drawing blood.
The agents later found a loaded 9mm pistol in the part of his jacket where he was reaching. He is charged with assaulting the two agents and possessing a weapon in furtherance of a crime. Calls to prosecutors and FBI officials in Pittsburgh were not returned.
Begolly has a history of extremist views, and was a Nazi sympathizer in his youth. Since converting to Islam, he has distributed antisemitic and jihadist poetry and songs under the handle Asadullah Alshishani. A recent chant praised suicide bombers, and another expresses love for Osama Bin Laden.
According to the Site monitoring group, Begolly was first known as “Goatly”, a reference to the fact that he resided on a farm in central Pennsylvania. He later changed his online identity to Asadullah Alshishani, which means “The Lion of Allah, the Chechen”.
Site said after he attracted significant attention to himself for his harsh antisemitic rants, especially a chant he recorded about killing Jews, Begolly changed his online identity to “Abu Nancy”.
Like Colleen LaRose (Jihad Jane) and others him, Begolly is part of a trend of American converts to Islam who have become radicalised through online jihadist forums, Site said.
