U.S. Authorities Struggle to Find a Pattern Among Aspiring Islamic State Members By Nicole Hong…Please see note
http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-authorities-struggle-to-find-a-pattern-among-aspiring-isis-members-1425586022?mod=WSJ_hp_RightTopStories
“Militant”….and “Islamic State Members” ?????Why avoid the term Islamic terrorists?….rsk
Lack of common profile poses test for those seeking to curb recruitment into militant group
Federal authorities investigating suspected Islamic State supporters in all 50 states have found no clear pattern to the type of American inspired to try to join the militant group, complicating efforts to thwart terror recruiting.
Some common threads exist, such as the fact that would-be recruits are often in their teens or early 20s and use social media to express support for Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. But overall, the group is broad, covering people who were raised Muslim and those who converted, married and single people, male and female, rich and poor, U.S.-born citizens and recent immigrants.
An estimated 180 Americans have traveled or attempted to travel to the civil war in Syria, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said this week. Not all of those, however, are believed to have joined extremist groups.
“An interesting fact on some of the individuals that we investigate for support to ISIL is the lack of a singular profile,” Michael Steinbach, head of the FBI’s counterterrorism division, said at a congressional hearing last week. “We find citizens, legal permanent resident aliens, some folks that are overstaying their visa. There’s actually quite a diversity of those individuals who for one reason or another state an intent to harm the United States.”
The three Brooklyn men arrested last week for allegedly plotting to support Islamic State were just the latest in a recent string of arrests. Federal authorities have prosecuted almost 30 people in Islamic State-related cases in the past 18 months, according to the Justice Department. The criminal complaints span from California to North Carolina, and the FBI said last week that Islamic State investigations have now been opened in all 50 states.
The motivations for joining Islamic State can vary widely, said Matthew Levitt, director of the Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence at the Washington Institute, a think tank.
“All kinds of different people are being radicalized,” Mr. Levitt said. “Some are loners seeking more of the belonging and adventure. Some have ethnic-identity issues. Some are drawn to the radical ideology.”
One trait that links some of the cases: Defendants are often teenagers trying to hide their travel plans from their parents.
The mother of 19-year-old Akhror Saidakhmetov, one of the Brooklyn defendants, took his passport away because she was afraid he would travel to Syria to wage jihad, according to a criminal complaint unveiled in Brooklyn federal court last week. After Mr. Saidakhmetov called his mother and repeatedly asked for his passport so that he could join Islamic State, she hung up the phone, the complaint said. An attorney for Mr. Saidakhmetov said his client was awaiting an indictment.
ENLARGE Adam Dandach, a 21-year-old from California, also had his passport taken away after he told his mother of a proposed trip to Turkey, a way station in what federal agents alleged was a planned trip to Syria to fight for Islamic State. Mr. Dandach, who was arrested near Los Angeles in July while trying to board a plane to Istanbul, pleaded not guilty to passport-fraud charges and has been in U.S. custody since then. On Wednesday, he was indicted on additional charges, including a charge of attempting to materially aid Islamic State, and is expected to be arraigned later this month. Mr. Dandach’s attorney said in an email he was out of the country and was alerted to the indictment by a prosecutor, declining to comment further.
Last week, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security sent a bulletin to law enforcement warning of what a bureau spokesman called “the continuing trend of Western youth being inspired by ISIL to travel to Syria to participate in conflict.”
“The youth factor is the most important part of this,” said Karen Greenberg, the director of the Center on National Security at Fordham Law School. “There’s a tone of teenage rebellion in it.”
The FBI last week arrested a 17-year-old in northern Virginia suspected of helping a man join Islamic State, according to people familiar with the case. Authorities aren’t releasing information about it because it involves a juvenile.
In a case last year in Colorado, Shannon Conley, 19, met a man online who claimed to be an Islamic State fighter in Syria and asked for her father’s permission to let her marry him and fight alongside him. Her father declined, the criminal complaint said. After repeated attempts by the FBI to persuade her to pursue humanitarian work instead—the bureau sometimes tries to steer individuals who don’t appear to pose a threat away from joining extremist groups—Ms. Conley tried to go to Syria anyway and was arrested at the airport. She pleaded guilty to supporting Islamic State and was sentenced in January to four years in prison.
Social media has made it easier for Islamic State to reach a broader audience, but it also means some aspiring recruits aren’t particularly sophisticated operatives. Many of the people charged were caught because they openly posted on sites like Facebook and Twitter about their intent to join Islamic State.
Nicholas Teausant, a 21-year-old from California, got the attention of federal authorities after he allegedly posted on Instagram and other sites about his desire to conduct violent jihad. After his arrest last March, federal agents say, his laptop revealed Web searches that included “how to build a bomb” and “where can I buy an ISIS flag.” Mr. Teausant pleaded not guilty to attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and is awaiting potential trial in Sacramento federal court.
While the Brooklyn case focused on individuals who tried to go to Syria to fight with Islamic State, other cases involve people who attempt to launch attacks in the U.S.
Christopher Cornell, a 20-year-old Ohio resident who allegedly posted pro-Islamic State messages on Twitter, is accused of making specific plans to detonate pipe bombs and shoot government officials at the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, according to the criminal complaint filed in January in Cincinnati federal court. Mr. Cornell, who was arrested in the parking lot of a gun store after purchasing rifles and ammunition, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
“This is a dynamic threat,” said Marc Raimondi, a spokesman for the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “There’s not one particular path to radicalization; there’s not one particular path to violence.”
Many of the cases, including in Brooklyn, relied on government informants who facilitated the suspected terrorists’ plans up until the arrests.
In a case in upstate New York last September, the FBI paid two informants a total of approximately $25,700 to help 31-year-old Mufid Elfgeeh buy guns for an alleged plot to kill U.S. soldiers and recruit Americans for Islamic State, according to the criminal complaint. Mr. Elfgeeh was arrested immediately after the weapons sale. He has pleaded not guilty.
The use of informants can be controversial. Critics say some of the people who were charged, especially the teenagers, would never have gotten so far in their plans to travel to Syria or buy weapons for Islamic State without informants’ help.
“I’m afraid that the informants are leading the government…to go for the easy cases,” said Barak Mendelsohn, an associate political-science professor at Haverford College who specializes in counterterrorism. “It seems like they are going for trapping the stupid kids.”
Law-enforcement officials have said informants are often the only way to conduct an effective investigation and that strict guidelines dictate the usage of informants. Federal courts have also upheld the use of undercover informants in terrorism cases, officials say.
—Andrew Grossman contributed to this article.
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