A federal trial will be held in Lafayette for Mayhmoud al-Muhtadi, a resident of Lafayette since June who pleaded not guilty Wednesday to falsifying a visa application and conspiring to support a foreign terrorist organization, namely Hamas

He is accused of being a member of a terrorist group and participating in the deadly Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack in Israel that left children, women and men, including the elderly, dead and sparked a two-year conflict.

Al-Muhtadi was in U.S. District Court, Western District of Louisiana in Lafayette on Wednesday afternoon before Magistrate Judge Carol Whitehurst, where he pleaded not guilty to two charges handed down Friday afternoon by a grand jury .

Assistant U.S. Attorney John Nickel said al-Muhtadi will not be deported to Israel, although

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