-A US grand jury has indicted a 22-year-old man for allegedly recruiting Islamic extremists to kill Americans and commit attacks on targets within the United States, federal prosecutors said.
Emerson Winfield Begolly, of New Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia for allegedly soliciting Islamic extremists via the Internet, according to the Justice Department.
According to the two-count indictment, Begolly also was charged with posting bomb-making instructions online, in the latest of several troubling "home-grown terror" cases in which a US-born defendant pledges to wage "jihad" against the United States.
US law enforcement officials said Begolly was an active moderator of an Islamic extremist web forum, the Ansar al-Mujahideen English Forum (AMEF) known to promote and distribute jihadist propaganda.
The indictment charged that since July 2010, Begolly has placed a number of online postings encouraging attacks within the United States, including against such targets as police stations, post offices, synagogues and military facilities.
Among the allegations against him is that Begolly late last year posted links to a 101-page document that contains information on how to set up a laboratory and manufacture explosives.
"Emerson Begolly is accused of repeatedly using the Internet to promote violent jihad against Americans," US Attorney Neil MacBride said in a statement.
"These allegations demonstrate how young people in the United States can become influenced by -- and eventually participate in -- jihadist propaganda that is a serious threat to the safety of us all.
Begolly faces 30 years in prison if convicted of the charges. In February he was indicted for allegedly assaulting federal agents and for firearms-related charges in Pennsylvania, and faces life in prison if convicted on those charges.