|
Steven Emerson,
Executive Director
|
April 9, 2015
|
|
Another
American Charged With Attempted Islamic State Support
Apr 9, 2015 at 2:08 pm
|
|
|
|
Share:
|
Be the
first of your friends to like this.
A 34-year-old man from Madison, Wisc. was arrested Wednesday and charged with attempting to
provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
Joshua Ray Van Haften's arrest at Chicago's O'Hare
Airport marks at least the 11th case of Americans charged with trying to join or
help the Islamic State in 2015.
Van Haften has been in custody in Turkey since October, however, and his
criminal complaint remained sealed until he was sent back to the United
States.
According to an FBI affidavit, Van Haften wanted to travel to into
Syria via Turkey to wage jihad with ISIL forces. Turkey's 248-mile open
border with Syria provides an attractive point of entry for several jihadi
wannabes seeking to join the Islamic State.
Van Haften posted and "liked" radical comments on his Facebook
page, the affidavit said. While in Turkey last October, he posted, "It's calling, I can smell it's [sic]
perfume! Allah!!!" The post linked to a "Tour of Jannah Paradise
video" by now-deceased radical Yemeni cleric Anwar al Awlaki. The video "describes what paradise
looked like for worthy Muslims who went there in the afterlife."
Awlaki's teachings have inspired several Westerners to wage terrorist attacks.
Van Haften was also Facebook "friends" with extremists,
including Adouw At-Taghout who lived in Raqqah, Syria, an ISIL stronghold.
At-Taghout posted a photo showing the Islamic State's beheading of American journalist James Foley. Haften commented on the post: "Yet, their cursed secular
laws are worse than the laws of Islam, and they want to say Shari'ah is
worse than their secular laws. A bunch of morons sucking on melons ... If
the goddam Americans and sons of satan, Israeil [sic] wanna mutilate the
dead, s*** we get an eye for an eye fool. Grow a set of nuts! Climb that
f***in tree and getcha some."
Van Haften left for Turkey last August but ran out money and his jihadi
handlers abandoned him before he could meet up with the Islamic State. He complained
in a Facebook post: "And all the boys supposed to help me wanted money
too! And I didn't have anything left as the man who was supposed to help me
cross for free as he supposedly help those on the path to mujahideen wanted
my last lira. So when these young brothers took me into the country dropped
me off telling me someone was gonna come & I waited 3 hours with no one
showing up in the middle of nowhere." Another man who was
"totally against Dawlah" [a reference to the Islamic State],
helped fund Haften's way back into Turkey.
If convicted, Van Haften could face a maximum 15-year prison sentence.
|
The IPT accepts no funding from
outside the United States, or from any governmental agency or political or
religious institutions. Your support of The Investigative Project on
Terrorism is critical in winning a battle we cannot afford to lose. All
donations are tax-deductible. Click here to donate online. The
Investigative Project on Terrorism Foundation is a recognized 501(c)3
organization.
202-363-8602
- main
202-966-5191
- fax
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment