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Federal agents have arrested a Gaza man living in Louisiana, saying he lied to obtain a visa in the United States after having taken part in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israel.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Mahmoud Amin Ya’qub Al-Muhtadi of Lafayette “has been found and charged with participating in the atrocities of October 7 – the single deadliest day for Jewish people since the Holocaust,” adding that the Justice Department’s Joint Task Force October 7 “is dedicated to finding and prosecuting those responsible … including the murder of dozens of American citizens.”
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said court filings describe Al-Muhtadi arming himself, recruiting others and entering Israel after learning of the assault.
Investigators say his phone connected to a cell tower near Kibbutz Kfar Aza, where many civilians – including at least four Americans – were killed.
“This arrest is the first public step in bringing to justice those responsible for harming Americans on that day,” Eisenberg said.
U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Keller for the Western District of Louisiana called the case a reminder that “those who perpetrate acts of terrorism cannot evade justice by hiding in our communities,” crediting a coalition of federal, state and local agencies – including the FBI, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Louisiana State Police, Lafayette Police Department and Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office – with assisting the investigation.
According to a criminal complaint, prosecutors say Al-Muhtadi is an operative for the National Resistance Brigades. That’s the military wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a Gaza-based paramilitary group that participated in the attack.
Prosecutors say he later secured entry to the United States by concealing ties to armed groups, training and involvement in the assault on his visa application. Department of Homeland Security records show he entered the country Sept. 12, 2024, and has been working and residing in Lafayette.
An affidavit states Al-Muhtadi met with a consular officer at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo on Aug. 6, 2024, took an oath, provided fingerprints and photographs, and indicated plans to settle in Tulsa, Okla., to work in car repair or food service. Investigators say they later obtained the fingerprint records noted by the consular officer.
The case is being led by Joint Task Force October 7 and the FBI’s New Orleans Field Office with assistance from Israeli authorities, including the State Attorney’s Office of Israel, the Israeli Security Agency, Lahav 433, the Israel National Police, the Israel Defense Forces and the Israeli National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing, as well as the FBI’s legal attaché in Israel.
The Louisiana State Police, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Lafayette Police and the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office also contributed.
The task force was established in February 2025 by Bondi to investigate perpetrators of the Oct. 7 attack, in which about 1,200 people were killed by Hamas, including 49 U.S. citizens, and roughly 250 were abducted, including eight Americans. Israel retaliated and the number of dead is now believed to exceed 68,000.

Gov. Jeff Landry is warning all SNAP card-holders that they will receive no new benefits on their cards starting Nov. 1 because of the the federal government shutdown in Washington, D.C

Any remaining benefits from previous months can still be used. Updated information will be available to all Louisiana residents through a new site https://dcshutdown.la.gov.

As of June 2024, 20.2% of the St. Mary Parish population is enrolled in the SNAP program, according to the Department of Children & Family Services.

An update from the U.S. Department of Agriculture this summer stated more than 16% of the population in Louisiana receives SNAP benefits.

“The U.S. Senate is failing to open the federal government in Washington, D.C.,” Landry said. “SNAP benefits are paid for by the federal government in Washington, and we simply administer the program here in Louisiana. Without the funds we cannot provide the benefits.

“The U.S. House under Speaker Mike Johnson has already acted to re-open the government. Our U.S. senators representing Louisiana have voted over and over again to re-open the government. They are doing their part. Now it is time for those U.S. senators, under Democrat Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, to vote yes and re-open the federal government.”

Democrats have insisted that they won’t vote to reopen the government unless health care coverage tax credits, which make insurance affordable for millions of Americans, are extended.

The Louisiana Department of Health which oversees the SNAP program in Louisiana will begin notifying recipients this week, based on available information, that November benefits will not be added to their cards until the federal government reopens.

In addition, LDH is providing notices, which retailers can post on doorways and in their stores notifying recipients new funds will be unavailable.

“All Louisiana SNAP recipients should be aware that there will be no new benefits added to their cards starting November 1st unless the federal government in Washington, D.C., reopens,” said Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health Bruce D. Greenstein. “We will do all we can to ensure SNAP recipients are aware of this and that retailers are prepared as well. Updated information will be provided on the state’s new dcshutdown.la.gov website as soon as it is available.”

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program provides monthly benefits that help eligible low-income households buy the food they need for good health. It is a program funded by the federal government in Washington, DC under the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

This week has been proclaimed Homecoming Week in Morgan City. Members of the homecoming court joined Chief Administrative Officer Charlie Solar for the signing recently Shown seated, from left: Khailyn Bui, Cordelia Aleksines, Jahdia Foussell, Kadynce Pittman, Solar, Jewel Blanco, Karlie Sonnier, Kumarigrace Nadar and Madison Alleman. Second row: Chassity Pillaro, Lily Viator, Madix Torres, Peyton Deshotel, Yeymi Tenorio and Cayden Charpentier. Back Row: Cole Perez, Keagan Hoyt, Cameron Aucoin, Evan Boudreaux, Santiago DelAngel, Lamarion Griffin, Xyavion Jackson, Micah Wilkerson, Jose Rivera, Aaden Wiggins, Anthony Castillo and Juan Villegas. The Tigers will host South Lafourche on Friday for the homecoming football game.

Submitted photo

Louisiana’s French speakers were much in demand during World War II, especially when interpreters were needed as GIs fought their way across France. That’s why Bob Mouton, a former congressman and a member of the Marine Reserves, was sent out to recruit “the best men from the bayou country” in January 1942.
Newspaper reports said Mouton “speaks good French, speaks bayou French, speaks good Spanish and bayou Spanish, and then, too, he speaks English.” He was asked to use his linguistic skills to persuade “a vast pool of young men who are perfect Marine material” to join the ranks.
Mouton told a reporter, “They can shoot straight, they can handle a knife, they’re good physical specimens, and they love a scrap. If that doesn’t make them good Marine material, then, moi, je suis fou.”
Mouton lured many of them into Marine uniforms, but some of the “best men from the bayou country” joined the Army instead, and their straight shooting caught people’s attention there, too. The armed forces newspaper Stars and Stripes reported in 1942 that “officers and men of [an Army] infantry battalion from Louisiana … won all four events in which they entered [in a marksmanship competition], thereby setting a record.”
According to that article, “at the time of mobilization the entire personnel conversed in French, even to the commands of the officers and noncoms, as many of the men couldn’t understand orders in English.  … The men have done an excellent public relations job in helping the French people obtain a better understanding of America and Americans.”
You have to wonder about the “understanding of America” given by these soldiers, most of whom had never traveled more than 20 miles from home until the war. It was probably a bit different from the “understanding” a GI from New York or even New Orleans might give.
And ambassadors such as Lovelace Viator had another set of skills that set South Louisiana soldiers apart. He made his name in the army as a cook, not as a marksman.
He told war correspondent Russ Kintzley in 1945 that he couldn’t speak a word of English when he joined the Army in 1941.When he was offered a chance to go to an army cooking and baking school, he told his French-speaking superiors that “if I had to learn out of books, I’d fail, but … I could still put food on the table with the rest of them.”
That wasn’t bragging. When he was interviewed, he was the cook for Maj. Gen. Clarence A. Martin, commander of the 31st Infantry Division, which spent most of the war in the Pacific. It was called the Dixie Division because it was made up of soldiers from Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi. General Martin was born in Virginia and no direct kin to the Louisiana Martins, but major generals got to pick their cooks, and he liked Lovelace’s Louisiana dishes.
By the end of the war Lovelace had learned to speak English “better than the average GI,” according to Kingsley’s report. In fact, that mastery of English had caused the cook to get “mixed up” on his French when he’d last visited his parents in Youngsville. “It took me about a half hour to get it, he said.
But he never lost his touch in the kitchen, “I give the general chicken gumbo and other French dishes, and he seems to like them,” Lovelace said. The war correspondent especially liked his banana pie that was baked into a “golden brown” crust.
Lovelace continued his cooking after the war. The 1950 census lists his occupation as “cook for oil men,” He died in 1977 at his home in Maurice.
You can contact Jim Bradshaw at jimbradshaw4321@gmail.com or P.O. Box 1121, Washington LA 70589.