GREENBELT, Md. — A former U.S. Army soldier accused of trying to provide support to a terrorist organization in Somalia after he left the military will remain locked up until his trial, a judge ruled Wednesday.
U.S. Magistrate Judge William Connelly rejected defense arguments that Craig Baxam was naïve and impulsive and simply exploring his religion when he left the United States for Somalia last month with the goal of joining al-Shabaab, a group designated as a foreign terrorist organization. He was picked up in neighboring Kenya before he could reach Somalia and was questioned by FBI agents.
