ISIS recruit gave tips to undercover agent to avoid detection

Alleged Islamic State recruit Tairod Pugh advised an undercover FBI agent to wear a Yankees cap to avoid being targeted by authorities on the way to Syria, according to testimony Wednesday in Brooklyn federal court.

Testifying under the alias Talib Nassib to protect his identity, the undercover agent said he posed as a radical Muslim to befriend Pugh, who was waiting to be processed at Kennedy Airport after being kicked out of Turkey and deported from Egypt because of suspicions about his activities.

The agent, appearing in a courtroom cleared of the press and public except for members of Pugh’s family, said he was able to get Pugh to talk talking about why he was thrown out of Turkey and provide tips on how to stay under the radar.

“I was wearing a jalabiya and I looked like a Muslim,” said Pugh on a secretly recorded tape made at an airport Dunkin’ Donuts. “… So, Inshallah, next time I travel as a tourist in the area, I’m going to have a New York Yankees baseball cap.”

Pugh, according to the tape, also advised the agent — who said he earned Pugh’s trust by showing him Nassib’s Facebook page with the ISIS flag — to try to “blend in,” shave off any beard, wear pants instead of Islamic dress and carry a colored backpack to “look like a hiker.”

Air Force veteran Pugh, 48, an itinerant airplane mechanic, was charged last year with visiting Turkey in January in an attempt to join ISIS, also known as Islamic State. The trial began Monday, and the public was allowed to listen to audio of the undercover in another courtroom.

The government found jihadi videos on his laptop and an unsent letter to his Egyptian wife indicating that he planned to become a “Mujahid,” but has produced no evidence that he ever had actual contact with ISIS. The defense says he is being prosecuted for thoughts, not actions.

The agent insisted in his testimony that he was not assigned to get Pugh to make incriminating statements. “I was tasked to ‘bump’ Mr. Pugh and strike up a conversation and see if he comes across as a radical Muslim,” he testified.

Pugh was arrested the day after speaking to the undercover operative. Although “Nassib” insisted that he and Pugh both knew what they were talking about, he acknowledged that Syria and ISIS were never mentioned by name, and that large segments of the audiotape were inaudible.

He also admitted on cross-examination that despite his oblique inquiries about going to Turkey, Pugh never gave him the name of an ISIS recruiter, safe house or contact and never mentioned “jihad.”

“Nassib” said he would have blown his cover if he tried to pry such explicit information out in their first meeting.