- Associated Press - Friday, May 5, 2017

WASHINGTON (AP) - A former U.S. Marine Corps member who a court document says pledged support to the Islamic State and expressed a desire to “conduct a violent revolution against whites” is facing federal weapons charges after allegedly illegally purchasing an AK-47 from an FBI informant.

Clark Calloway of Washington, D.C., made his first appearance in federal court on Friday where the 38-year-old construction worker was ordered jailed until a hearing Wednesday. He’s charged with possession of a firearm or ammunition by a felon and transportation of a firearm with the intent to commit a felony. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

Prosecutors say Calloway paid $250 for the firearm, which had been disabled by law enforcement, and was arrested when he took possession of it Thursday.

According to a court document, the FBI began investigating Calloway in 2016. The document says he posted “numerous violent and threatening statements,” ’’friended” several hundred Islamic State fighters and sympathizers, joined IS Facebook groups and posted pro-IS propaganda. An investigation revealed he maintains at least two active Facebook accounts, “one related to his extremist racial views and one related to his pro-ISIS views,” the court document said, referring to the IS.

In 2016 Calloway, who is black, posted about “his desire to conduct a violent revolution against whites and conducting a race war,” writing: “Let’s put bullets in them.”

The document shows that over the course of the investigation, Calloway came into contact with three FBI sources. In response to a question, he told the informant from whom he purchased the AK-47 that the best way to “do something” was to have simultaneous attacks on police stations “all over the country.”

Later, he told the same informant that he was purchasing the AK-47 “to be ready to do something here.” He named a police station in Washington as a potential target, the court document suggests. But after Calloway was arrested, he characterized his Facebook posts as “propaganda” and “talking trash” and “denied that he planned to carry out an attack,” the document says. He acknowledged talking about attacking police stations, but denied referencing a specific police station. He told FBI agents that he was aware he couldn’t have a weapon because he’s a felon but wanted the AK-47 for “a rainy day” and needed it “for the race war.”

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