Teen terror suspect who tried to 'detonate bomb' outside Chicago bar appears in court as lawyer claims he is just an 'immature kid'

Adel Daoud, 18, arrested on Friday following FBI undercover investigation

Teenager will return to court on Thursday as judge decides whether to allow him bail

Defense lawyer said Daoud was not a danger to the public



Adel Daoud, 18, is suspected of a terrorist plot to blow up a bar in downtown Chicago

The 18-year-old charged with attempting to detonate what he believed to be a car bomb outside a Chicago bar was a 'immature kid' who is not a danger to the public, his lawyer told a court today.



Adel Daoud appeared nervous during his first appearance in federal court, dressed in a bright orange prison jumpsuit and jiggling his legs as he sat.



A judge granted the request of Daoud's attorney, Thomas Durkin, to delay his preliminary hearing until Thursday afternoon.



At that time, Judge Arlander Keys will rule on whether to allow Daoud to be released on bail.

Daoud, a U.S. citizen who lives in the Chicago suburb of Hillside, was arrested on Friday after trying to explode a fake bomb provided by an undercover FBI agent as part of a investigation lasting several months, authorities said.

If convicted of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction, Daoud faces up to life in prison.



His attorney has experience as a defense lawyer in terrorist trials, including representing detainees held at Guantanamo Bay.

According to an FBI affidavit, Daoud used email accounts starting in October 2011 to gather and send materials 'relating to violent jihad and the killing of Americans'.

Two undercover FBI employees began corresponding with Daoud in May, exchanging several electronic messages with him in which he expressed an interest in 'engaging in violent jihad, either in the United States or overseas,' the affidavit said.

Nervous: The teenager has appeared in federal court this wek in an orange prison jumpsuit, he was arrested after being monitored by the FBI for months

From late May to mid-June, Daoud sought guidance on whether to carry out an attack in the United States, then sought online resources on how to carry out an attack.

An undercover FBI agent then was introduced to Daoud by one of the undercover employees as a cousin and operational terrorist living in New York.

An agent provided Daoud with a Jeep apparently full of explosives - which was an inert device produced by undercover law enforcement.

Daoud was arrested after allegedly trying to detonate it outside the downtown bar in Chicago.

After the hearing on Monday, Durkin told reporters that he found the case 'somewhat suspicious' and pointed out that some of the incidents described in the affidavit took place when Daoud was 17, thus not legally an adult.



'I find it an odd way to enforce the law,' he said. 'I think it's ridiculous.'

Durkin said that the FBI had taken Daoud's glasses, rendering him incapable of seeing his father Ahmed seated around 15 feet away from him, and asked for them to be returned.

Describing Daoud as 'socially very awkward' he said 'if the government is to be believed' the suspect had been spreading 'nonsense' on the Internet.

'Does that make him a terrorist?' he asked with Daoud's father standing behind him. 'I don't know.'

Serious: In this courtroom sketch, 18-year-old Adel Daoud, stands before Federal Court Judge Arlander Keys, with attorneys Joss Heiman, left, and Thomas Durikn, as Daoud's father Ahmed Daoud, rear, looks on