later that year, he condemned the actions of Nidal Malik Hasan, who was arrested and charged in the case. Abdo's brigade from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, was deployed to Afghanistan in February 2010. Abdo stayed behind to continue authorized studies in language school to learn Pashto, one of the predominant languages in the area where US troops are deployed in the country. He was due to deploy to Afghanistan in June 2010, but applied that spring for conscientious objector status. He said the prospect of deployment had forced him to examine his beliefs, and as a Muslim he could not serve in Afghanistan against Muslim peoples. In an interview with Al-Jazeera TV, which aired on August 21, 2010 (as translated by MEMRI), Abdo said, "I don't believe I can involve myself in an army that wages war against Muslims. I don't believe I could sleep at night if I take part, in any way, in the killing of a Muslim." The Army approved his discharge, but it was put on hold when Army officials discovered child pornography on his government-issued computer while processing him out. At a June 15 hearing, Army officials recommended that Abdo be court-martialed. After being charged with possessing child pornography, which he denied, Abdo went AWOL from Fort Campbell during the July 4 weekend in 2011. In the spring, two anti-war groups, Iraq Veterans Against the War and Courage to Resist, had initially supported Abdo's conscientious objector bid. In a statement for Iraq Veterans Against the War, Abdo had written, "Only when the military and America can disassociate Muslims from terror can we move onto a brighter future of religious collaboration and dialogue that defines America and makes me proud to be an American." After Abdo's arrest, a spokesman for Iraq Veterans condemned the planned attack, saying it was utterly against their principles. Upon learning of Abdo's arrest on the pornography charges in June 2010, Courage to Resist, which had contributed to Abdo's legal fees in the conscientious objector case, said in a statement that it had removed the private's profile from its website and no longer supported him. Arrest On July 27, 2011, the staff of the Guns Galore gunstore in Killeen, Texas, near Fort Hood noted that Abdo bought an unusually large amount of smokeless gunpowder, three boxes of shotgun ammunition, and a magazine for a pistol. A clerk notified the Killeen Police Department, who