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 David Wright, 25, of Massachusetts, and Nicholas Rovinski, 24, of
Rhode Island, will appear for a detention hearing at 2 p.m. EDT in
U.S. District Court in Boston.
Wright was arrested by police in Boston on June 2, the same day that
officers shot dead a third man, Usaamah Abdullah Rahim, while trying
to question him about the beheading plot. Authorities said Rahim,
26, threatened the officers with a knife.
Wright and Rovinski, who was arrested last week, were charged with
conspiracy to provide material support to Islamic State, an offense
that carries a maximum prison sentence of 15 years.
Prosecutors said Rahim, Wright and Rovinski in late May "conspired
to commit attacks and kill persons inside the United States, which
they believed would support ISIL’s objectives," using an acronym for
Islamic State.
 The prosecutors said the men initially wanted to behead New York
resident Pamela Geller, who had organized a Texas event in May
highlighting cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad, images that many
Muslims consider blasphemous. Two gunmen had attacked that event,
and were shot dead by police.
They said Rahim later called Wright, who is also known as Dawud
Sharif Abdul Khaliq, to say he had revised his plan and instead
intended to attack "those boys in blue," by which he meant
Massachusetts police officers.
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The case follows a handful of so-called "lone wolf" attacks in the
United States and Canada since last year by people who authorities
said were inspired by Islamic State, which controls parts of Syria
and Iraq and has vowed attacks on the West.
Friday's hearing will be Wright's first court appearance since he
was charged.
Rovinski, who is also known as Amriki aka Nuh al Andalusi, appeared
last Friday in Boston federal court, where a judge read him the
charges and ordered him jailed until his bail hearing.
(Reporting by Richard Valdmanis; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)
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