I don’t claim to know the precise details, but he DID present himself at an FBI office, he DID have facebook posts with a Muslim identity (or highly obviously Arabic name) and pix w/a Palestinian kaffiyeh scarf; he DID say he was either being recruited by ISIS or taught to fight by ISIS and yeah, you are an FBI agent and this doesn’t raise your suspicions? A bit more than an unpaid parking ticket? So yeah, let him keep his weapon and put him on an airplane, what could go wrong?
They wanted him to keep his gun. Part of the plan to keep him weaponized.
An account of the hearing-
Santiago-Ruiz spoke very little during the hearing, He did confirm to Judge Alicia Valle that he understood the charges against him. He was assigned a federal public defender.
He said for the last couple of years that he had worked for a company called Signal 88 Security in Anchorage. He stated that he earns about $2,000 per month and that he had only $5 to $10 in his bank account.
Santiago-Ruiz, will be held at the Broward County Jail in Fort Lauderdale and is scheduled for a hearing January 17 to discuss bail, with likely denial. The prosecution has two weeks to indict him and go through the whole death penalty review since he could face the death penalty if convicted.