Records show man intent on terror, but supporters skeptical

But court records released yesterday say he went further, downloading videos of suicide bombings and other forms of killings, all in the name of jihad, or holy war. He schemed to shoot up a shopping mall and kill anyone who was a nonbeliever. And of all places to support the jihad, he wanted to go to Iraq because he could kill Americans, according to prosecutor’s statements filed in federal court.

The court papers released yesterday, filed to support a new federal complaint charging Mehanna with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, offered more details about the man the FBI has painted as a terrorist since his initial arrest last year on charges he lied to investigators.

At the same time, the records further confused family members and friends who have long questioned how the 27-year-old from Sudbury, who only months ago released a picture of himself with a kitten, titled, “The Love of My life,’’ could plan a deadly attack on Americans.

“You could see the kindness in his eyes,’’ said a neighbor, Cafic Maalouf, 47, who lives down the street from Mehanna and saw him recently as he was out mowing the family’s lawn.

Another neighbor, Paul McManus, said: “He was everyday normal. When he was out walking, he was friendly, neighborly.’’

Mehanna, barrel-chested and bearded, lives in a sprawling home in a cul-de-sac off Hudson Road in Sudbury with his mother, Souad, and father, Ahmed. His mother runs a licensed day care there. State officials said they have had no day care-related complaints in the past, but will be looking into whether the setting is appropriate.

A recent graduate of the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy, where his father is a professor, Mehanna had planned a career as a pharmacist in Saudi Arabia, after working as a pharmacy intern at Walgreens in Marlborough from 2006 to 2008. In Saudi Arabia, he had been promised a hefty benefits package and free return trips to the United States. But as he was boarding a plane at Logan in November to go to Saudi Arabia, he was arrested on charges that he lied to investigators in a terrorism investigation.

In an informal interview with the Globe several months ago and in statements through his lawyer, Mehanna was quick to deny the charges, and he accused federal investigators of targeting him with trumped-up charges because they were trying to turn him into a government informant.

A federal indictment released last year revealed little of what the government knew of Mehanna and only seemed to blur the line between the terrorist alleged by the government and someone from the general Muslim community, his supporters said.

“They’re kind of painting the wrong picture of the Muslim community,’’ a supporter said last year.

Supporters cited his work with youth, as a teacher at the Islamic Center of Boston in Wayland. He was a young pharmacist in the making, following in his father’s footsteps.

Abdul Cader Asmal, a past president of the center, recalled sharing Superman comics with the young man, who later played guitar in high school and listened to metal music such as Pantera. In between, he gave lectures at Friday night services in Worcester and translated poetic Arabic scriptures into English.

But through the years, Mehanna seemed to grow more dedicated to his beliefs, and eventually he connected with figures who seemed to promote the extremist movement, according to court records and interviews with friends. Several years ago, he met Daniel Maldonado, a Massachusetts native who was convicted two years ago of undergoing terrorist training. He was sentenced to 10 years in jail.

Mehanna has told the Globe he met Maldonado at a Lowell mosque in 2003, but could not say where.

He also met Ahmad Abousamra, and together they planned to join jihad in the Middle East, according to court records. Little was known about Abousamra yesterday. He fled to Syria after he was initially questioned by federal investigators in 2006 about his trip to the Middle East and his ties to Maldonado.

But court records alleged that Mehanna, Abousamra, and an unidentified government witness conspired to do anything they could to further jihad, even if it meant suicide bombers.

In the interview earlier this year, Mehanna did not deny his support of violence for a Muslim cause. However, he seemed to draw a line at the random killing of civilians and said he wished the American news media would learn the difference.

But, the court records said, Mehanna knew no line. According to recorded conversations, he approved of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and supported American deaths in Iraq.

He allegedly watched downloaded videos of jihad in his Sudbury home, and referred to Muslims living in America as “house slaves.’’

Much of the material in court records refers to a blog he wrote. While some have seen his passages as poetic, others have referred to him as the “Al Qaeda blogger,’’ for his promotion of Islamic fundamentalism. Federal investigators allege he used the blog to promote terrorism, a possible crime. One blog was titled, “39 Ways to Support Jihad,’’ in reference to a popular book that a Congressional Committee has identified as a cause to action for fundamentalists.

Iesa Galloway of the website muslimmatters.org, which bills itself as a platform for discussing contemporary issues from an orthodox perspective, said differing portraits of Mehanna have emerged on the site. While many people enjoy him personally, writers have noticed that Mehanna, under the name Abu Sabaya, has recently been debating them, supporting terrorism ideals and calling them “sellouts.’’

Globe correspondent John Guilfoil contributed to this report.