A Trinidadian who has been charged  in the US for attempting to provide material support for Islamic State (IS)  has been found to be “mentally unfit to assist in his own defence.”

  As such, 28-year-old Rondel Henry will be hospitalized at a Bureau of Prisons facility for up to four months to determine if he will “attain the capacity to permit the proceedings to go forward,” after a report by a court-appointed forensic psychologist.

   The psychologist  determined that “there is ample evidence to indicate the defendant suffers from a mental disorder or disease that would substantially impair his ability to assist counsel in his defence.” The psychologist also recommended formal “competency restoration procedures.”

Henry, who has lived in the United States for more than 12 years is accused of planning an attack inspired by the IS at a shopping and entertainment complex near Washington, D.C.

He  was arrested on March 28, 2019, after he allegedly stole a U-Haul van in Virginia  which he parked  at the National Harbor, a popular waterfront destination  and then jumped the security fence, raising suspicions

Henry is reported to have told investigators that he planned to carry out an attack like one in which a driver ran over and killed dozens of people in Nice, France, in 2016.

Prosecutors claim to have recovered a phone which Henry had discarded on a highway in an apparent attempt to conceal evidence, including images of the Islamic State flag, armed Islamic State fighters and the man who carried out the 2016 Pulse nightclub massacre in an Orlando, Florida.

The terrorism charge is punishable by a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Henry also faces a stolen vehicle charge that carries a maximum of 10 years in prison.