Nouran Ahmad Shihab Sueidan remains detained

NOTE: This story has been updated to make two corrections. Defendant Nouran Ahmad Shihab Sueidan’s name was misspelled. Also, the date of his next hearing is Tuesday; it was previously misstated.

The man who caused Fort Bragg’s All American gate to be closed for several hours Tuesday has been arrested and will have a detention hearing at 9 a.m. Tuesday in Raleigh to face charges related to obstruction of justice.

Nouran Ahmad Shihab Sueidan was seen by a magistrate of the U.S. District Court of North Carolina on Wednesday.

An affidavit presented to the judge from the investigator of Fort Bragg’s Military Police Investigations and Provost Marshal Office states at about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday that Sueidan attempted to access Fort Bragg.

Sueidan allegedly refused to provide identification to gate guards.

“The gate guards informed Sueidan that he could not enter Fort Bragg without producing identification, at which point he insisted that he needed to enter Fort Bragg,” the investigator said in the affidavit.

Sueidan later provided an expired Jordanian passport, an expired Texas driver’s license, expired vehicle registration and no proof of vehicle insurance.

The investigator said the gate guard expressed concern about the passport and visa’s legitimacy, which appeared to have handwritten modifications.

Sueidan was asked to turn around and to go the nearby visitor’s center to have his identification verified.

Law enforcement officials at the visitor’s center noticed Sueidan’s vehicle registration was expired and confirmed through a database that his driver’s license was expired.

“When Sueidan was informed that he would not be able to enter Fort Bragg, he insisted that he had a foreign military identification and that he needed to make entry to the installation to "take a tour of the Special Operations facility to identify if it was worth his time,’” the investigator wrote in the affidavit.

The investigator said Sueidan became agitated and insisted that all he wanted to do was tour the special operations facility.

Officers at the scene detained him for his safety and the safety of others, the investigator said.

Sueidan initially turned around and put his hands behind his back, but resisted being detained when the first handcuff was in place and start swinging his right arm away, the investigator said.

The investigator said Sueidan also made comments several times about needing to know the time and said “at (noon), we will be happy, at (noon) the weather will change,” as he looked around in different directions.

The traffic investigator requested a canine conduct a search of Sueidan’s vehicle, which would be towed because of insufficient registration and proof of insurance.

“An officer noticed that Sueidan was looking out window and smiling and studying what officers were doing and he kept asking what position everyone was in,” the investigator wrote in the affidavit.

The canine showed a “change in behavior,” that indicated the “possible existence of explosive material around the driver's side rear door of the vehicle,” the investigator said.

Explosive ordnance disposal teams confirmed no explosives were inside the vehicle, the investigator said.

Sueidan was taken to the law enforcement center, where he again said he needed to know the address and location of the special operations facility for a tour “to identify if it was worth his time,” the investigator said.

“He also stated that he wanted to know how to make entry to the installation in the future and what he needed to make entry to the Special Operations facility, “the investigator wrote.

The investigator said he refused to make any more statements, refused to sign government forms, refused to be processed and refused to enter the detention cell.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency has lodged a detainer against Sueidan, a spokesman for the agency said.

The detainer requests local authorities to notify ICE if Sueidan is released from criminal custody.

"(ICE) will seek to take him into custody for removal proceedings following the resolution of the criminal charges he currently face," said Bryan Cox, a spokesman for the agency's southern region.

Staff writer Rachael Riley can be reached at rriley@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3528