A KC-135T Stratotanker aircraft assigned to the 171st Air Refueling Wing taxies to a parking spot on Dec. 7, 2024. A former member of the wing has been accused of making homemade explosives. (Andrew Stover/U.S. Air National Guard)
Apr. 24 (Tribune News Service) — A former Air National Guardsman from Coraopolis, Pa., who was already accused of vandalizing Jewish buildings in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood last year, faces new federal charges alleging he made homemade pipe bombs and lied to government officials.
The new indictment, filed earlier this week and unsealed Wednesday, alleges 23-year-old Mohamad Hamad built and detonated several explosives and pipe bombs last year while telling friends and associates he wanted to go to Palestine and “die fighting.”
He was a member of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard’s 171st Refueling Wing stationed in Moon until he was barred from the facility in mid-September. He’s accused of lying to government officials during his security clearance investigation.
“Mohamad Hamad lied about his loyalty to the United States, among other false statements, in an attempt to obtain a top-secret security clearance,” acting U.S. Attorney Troy Rivetti said in a statement. “During that time, he openly expressed support for Lebanon, Hezbollah and Hamas.”
Mr. Hamad was charged last year alongside 24-year-old Talya Lubit for allegedly spray-painting “Jews 4 Palestine” on a wall at Chabad of Squirrel Hill. A few miles away, the two allegedly defaced a sign outside the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh to read that the organization “funds genocide.”
According to the indictment, Mr. Hamad told others that even though he had joined the U.S. Air Force, “it’s still Palestine on top.” In a separate voice note, he allegedly told someone else: “Don’t get me wrong, my dear, Lebanon, Palestine are my country and they are on top, and at the end of the day, [expletive] off Israel and all her friends.”
At the same time he was at Air Force training in Texas in 2023, Mr. Hamad was allegedly sharing violent pro-Hamas videos. Investigators say he lied during his February 2024 security clearance interview when he affirmed that his “ultimate allegiance is with the USA” over other nations. He also allegedly said that nothing in his background would give anyone reason to question or disbelieve his loyalty to the U.S.
The new indictment also accuses Mr. Hamad of conspiring with 22-year-old Micaiah Collins to make and detonate homemade explosives. He told her in late June that supplies had come in the mail and he’d “made that big shell.”
“It’s way bigger than I expected,” he wrote, followed by “I’m actually scared of it a bit” and “But I want to light it.”
Ms. Collins, authorities alleged, shared her excitement: “Cuz wen we do the THING.. w the THING oh yeaaaaa its OVERRR” and “bros ankles GONE!!!”
A week later, the pair allegedly set off homemade explosive devices, though the indictment doesn’t specify where it was done. Ms. Collins shared a video of the explosion with Mr. Hamad later that night. In mid-July, authorities say Mr. Hamad met up with a friend at Rothrock State Park near State College and detonated several homemade bombs. Investigators found fragments at the park.
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