Zachary Adam Chesser's attempt to use his infant son to avoid suspicion while flying to Africa to join a terrorist group proves he holds "little if any concern for the lives of others," U.S. District Judge Ivan Davis said Monday.
That choice, Davis said, was the most significant reason he ordered the Fairfax man to remain in jail as court proceedings against him continue.
Chesser, 20, was arrested last week and is accused of providing material aid to the Somalian terrorist organization al-Shabab. Authorities say he told FBI agents he twice tried to fly to Somalia to join the group as a fighter.
In court Monday, prosecutors tried to depict Chesser as an aspiring terrorist who wanted to kill others and did not care if he died himself.
Prosecutor John Gibbs said Chesser wrote a post in an online forum that explained the benefits of conducting fake operations to "desensitize" law enforcement by placing harmless suspicious packages in public places.
That way, authorities would be less vigilant when a package containing a bomb was placed, Gibbs said Chesser wrote.
Gibbs said Chesser wrote online messages about how to manufacture explosive devices.
Davis said Chesser's postings and repeated statements that he was willing to die for Islam showed "there are no conditions that will reasonably assure safety to the community" if he released Chesser.
"It would be extremely difficult to prevent Mr. Chesser from engaging in that type of activity," Davis said of the online postings. He said even if Chesser's computer were seized, he could obtain another from a friend or visit a library.
Gibbs also said Chesser told FBI agents this month that he would be willing to help them -- if the FBI would send him overseas in exchange.
That makes one wonder whether Chesser's desire to help was sincere, Davis said.
Michael Nachmanoff, Chesser's attorney, argued Monday that Chesser should be released on bond.
Chesser was not a flight risk because he had "deep ties" to Northern Virginia, Nachmanoff said. He said Chesser had only gone abroad twice -- to Canada with his family as a child and to Japan in high school.
Nachmanoff argued that authorities had been investigating Chesser for months but had not wanted to detain him until last week. He said Chesser didn't pose a greater danger now than he did when FBI agents interviewed him earlier this month and last year.