Who is Nicholas Teausant? Suspected Al Qaeda Supporter, 20, Arrested After Allegedly Planning To Bomb LA Metro

A 20-year-old California National Guardsman, who has been identified as Nicholas Teausant, was arrested for trying to cross the Canadian border to join al Qaeda and fight for “Allah’s Army,” NBC News reported. He also reportedly had plans to bomb the Los Angeles subway system.

The Los Angeles Times identified the man's Facebook page with the name “Nicholas Michael Teausant” and then “Ased Abdur-Raheem” was in parenthesis underneath. The Lodi native is a single father whose last Facebook post was a day before he was arrested. His public page said he would be travelling to London. [Click here to see his photo.]

But before Teausant could get to London, officials said he was trying to get into Canada so he could go “to Syria to join the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, a foreign terrorist organization more widely known as al Qaeda in Iraq,” NBC News said. ISIS is one of the rebel armies fighting the Assad regime in Syria.

Teausant’s arrest at the Blaine, Wash., border post came Monday, 10 months after he first appeared on the radar for authorities when he began to post Instagram messages that allegedly said he wanted to be a part of America’s downfall. Teausant reportedly posted under the name “Assad Teausant bigolsmurf” and purportedly wrote on Instagram: "I would love to join Allah's army, but I don't even know how to start."

At the time, Teasaunt was in the Army National Guard’s 118th Maintenance Company in Stockton, Calif., and when he was being arrested at the border he was in the process of being released from service, NBC News noted. His title was “Trainee Unassigned” with the rank of private.

It’s been alleged the 20-year-old might have also wanted to start by striking the LA subway system. Teausant told a confidential law enforcement source he talked about “hitting” the city on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day and specifically pointed out the subway. He asked the insider how one would procure a “firework” from Chinatown. Teausant reportedly sent a text that said: "Don't go to LA Anytime soo Akhi Please trust me on this...and if you do go don't use the subway."

According to CBC News, it’s unknown if he has a lawyer. If Teausant is convicted, he could face a maximum of 15 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.

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