South Florida Man Accused Of Soliciting ISIS Agents To Kill College Deans Pleads Not Guilty

MIAMI (CBSMiami) - A South Florida man charged with threatening deans at two local colleges pleaded not guilty in federal court on Monday.

Salman Rashid, 23, is charged with soliciting another person to commit a crime of violence.

Federal prosecutors say he solicited a confidential FBI informant, he believed was a member of ISIS, to target the deans at the colleges where he had been suspended or expelled from.

According to the Justice Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested Rashid for making the threats to Broward College and Miami Dade College.

According to court documents, investigators said Rashid, "advocated for the violent overthrow of democracy and the establishment of Islamic law."

The FBI began to watch Rashid following several threatening Facebook posts and conversations people who he thought were members of ISIS. They were really undercover agents.

At one point, according to the FBI, Rashid wanted the ISIS members to place explosives in buildings on the campuses of Miami Dade College and Broward College in hopes of killing two deans.

Rashid provided information about the locations to place the devices and his assessment of security that might be present at the colleges, according to the Justice Department.

Rashid had been expelled from both schools. He faces up to a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison if convicted.