BOSTON — Two men pleaded innocent Friday to conspiring to support the Islamic State extremist group in a plot to kill a conservative blogger.
David Wright, 25, of Everett, Mass., and Nicholas Rovinski, 24, of Warwick, R.I., entered the pleas in federal court in Boston.
Both were indicted Thursday on charges of conspiring to provide material support to a terrorist organization by plotting with Boston terror suspect Usaama Rahim, 26, to behead blogger Pamela Geller. The plot wasn’t carried out.
Rahim was killed by investigators, who said he lunged at them with a knife in Boston on June 2 when they approached him to talk about a recorded phone conversation. In the phone conversation, authorities said, Rahim told Wright that he had changed his mind about killing Geller and now wanted to kill police officers. Rahim’s family has questioned that account.
Wright and Rovinski will remain in custody at least until a status conference, which is set for July 29.
Wright also pleaded innocent to charges of conspiracy and obstruction of justice.