(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The Palestinian man arrested in Louisiana last year for allegedly participating in the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, has signaled that he has an alibi.
The alleged Oct. 7 attacker, Mahmoud Amin Ya’qub Al-Muhtadi, revealed his alibi defense in a filing on Friday in federal court. His lawyers said they notified federal prosecutors of the alibi, but they haven’t filed anything on the court docket due to concerns about witness confidentiality. The defense lawyers have previously noted that potential witnesses for their client may be living in tents in war-torn Gaza.
The alleged Oct. 7 attacker who was arrested in Louisiana last year has signaled that he has an alibi.
The alleged attacker, Mahmoud Al-Muhtadi, says he notified prosecutors about this, but that he hasn't filed anything on the docket due to concerns about witness… https://t.co/3lVagkhQc6 pic.twitter.com/RTRJbZLypx
— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) November 3, 2026
Al-Muhtadi’s lawyers also have numerous other pending motions in the case, including one to suppress evidence collected by Israel’s National Bureau for Counter-Terror Financing (NBCTF) without a warrant. The defense argued that because the FBI has agents embedded in the NBCTF, the agency should be bound by the U.S. Constitution—and therefore the warrantless collection of their client’s cell phone conversations violated the Fourth Amendment.
A motion hearing was scheduled for Tuesday morning, but no decisions on the motions were public as of the publication of this article.
According to the FBI, Al-Muhtadi was an operative of the Gaza-based military wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
The FBI says Al-Muhtadi coordinated an armed group to travel into Israel and that during the Oct. 7 attack his phone pinged a cell tower near Kfar Aza, an Israeli village where dozens of residents were killed and approximately 19 kidnapped.
The fact that the FBI has agents embedded in Israel’s National Bureau for Counter-Terror Financing (NBCTF) has become an issue in the case of the alleged Oct. 7 attacker arrested in Louisiana last year.
The alleged attacker's lawyers say much of the evidence against him comes… https://t.co/jPEPw86tgq pic.twitter.com/z6L5WheNW5
— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) November 3, 2026
In June 2024, Al-Muhtadi submitted an electronic U.S. visa application in Cairo. In the application, he denied serving in any paramilitary organization or having ever engaged in terrorist activities. His application said he intended to live in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and work in “car repairs or food services.” He entered the U.S. in September 2024.
Al-Muhtadi lived in Tulsa through May but by early June had relocated to Lafayette, where he worked for a local restaurant, the FBI says. An FBI agent identified as “UC-1”–likely meaning that the agent was undercover—repeatedly met with him in Lafayette from July to September this year, according to the criminal complaint.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
