Washington transit officer charged for attempting to help the Islamic State

A 36-year-old Washington transit police officer was on Wednesday arrested on charges of attempting to help the Islamic State.

Nicholas Young is alleged to have last month sent codes for gift cards worth $245 to an FBI informant he believed was acquainted with the militant group.

The cards were intended for mobile-messaging accounts used by the Islamic State to recruit its followers.

The 36-year-old who has been working with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority since 2003, according to an affidavit filed in the Virginia district court, had been on the radar of US federal law enforcement since 2010.

He has since been fired from his job, Metro authorities said on Wednesday.

Young becomes the first law enforcement officer charged with attempting to provide material support to a designated terrorist group, the FBI said.

A spokesman for the Eastern Virginia Attorney’s office said Young did not pose a threat to Metro employees and riders during the six years he was under federal surveillance.

Young traveled to Libya in 2011 to support rebels who were trying to overthrow then leader, Muammar Gaddafi, the affidavit said.

More than 90 people have been slapped with Islamic State-related charges by the US Justice Department since 2014.