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Guardsman Accused of Trying to Join ISIS in Libya Guardsman Accused of Trying to Join ISIS in Libya
(about 2 hours later)
WASHINGTON — Federal authorities in Illinois arrested an Army National Guardsman who they say tried to travel to Libya to fight on behalf of the Islamic State and was helping his cousin plot an attack on an American military base, the Justice Department said on Thursday. WASHINGTON — Federal authorities in Illinois arrested an Army National Guardsman who they say tried to travel to Libya to fight on behalf of the Islamic State and was helping his cousin plot an attack on an American military base, the Justice Department said on Thursday.
The authorities contend that the guardsman, Specialist Hasan R. Edmonds, 22, of Aurora, Ill., planned to use his military skills to help the Islamic State, according to court documents. He was arrested at a Chicago-area airport as he attempted to board a plane. The case is believed to be the first in which an American was apprehended on an allegation of trying to join the Islamic State in a country other than Syria. It also demonstrates the evolving challenges that Western authorities face as the militant group expands its reach throughout the Middle East and Africa.
The case is unique compared with the others the Justice Department has brought against Americans accused of trying to join the Islamic State. In nearly all the other cases, the Americans planned to travel to Syria to fight for the group. The authorities contend that the guardsman, Specialist Hasan R. Edmonds, 22, of Aurora, Ill., planned to use his military skills to help an Islamic State affiliate in Libya, according to court documents. He was arrested on Wednesday at Chicago Midway International Airport as he attempted to board a plane.
But in this case, Specialist Edmonds planned to travel to Derna, Libya, a city that is controlled by the Islamic State, the Justice Department said. The militant group has made significant gains in Libya in recent months. In February, an Islamic State affiliate in Libya beheaded 21 Egyptian Christians. A cousin of the guardsman, Jonas M. Edmonds, 29, also of Aurora, Ill., was charged with suspicion of planning an attack at a military base in Northern Illinois where Specialist Edmonds had been training.
A cousin of the guardsman, Jonas M. Edmonds, 29, was charged on suspicion of planning to launch an attack at a military base in northern Illinois where Specialist Edmonds had been training. Jonas Edmonds, who was described as having a criminal record that complicated his ability to travel abroad, planned to use Specialist Edmonds’s uniforms and “information he supplied about how to access the installation and target officers for attack,” the authorities said.
Jonas Edmonds, who also lives in Aurora, Ill., planned to use Specialist Edmonds’s uniforms and “information he supplied about how to access the installation and target officers for attack,” the authorities said. Since 2013, the Justice Department has charged or detained about 30 people in the United States in connection with trying to support or join the Islamic State in Iraq or Syria. In most of those cases, the people planned to travel first to Turkey and then make their way over its porous border with Syria.
To thwart them, American law enforcement and military officials have carried out measures to monitor Americans traveling to Turkey. They have also called on the Turkish government to step up border security.
But in this case, Specialist Edmonds planned to travel to Egypt and then over its border with Libya to the coastal city of Derna, the Justice Department said.
Derna is about halfway between Benghazi and the Libya-Egypt border. It is an infamous hub for Islamic militants, with several hundred fighters there having pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. Documents uncovered by American forces in Iraq during the occupation showed that more jihadists had come from Derna than from any other city to join insurgents battling American forces there.
The Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, has made significant gains in Libya in recent months. In February, an Islamic State affiliate that controls the city of Surt carried out videotaped beheadings of 21 Egyptian Christians.
The affidavit filed by the authorities indicated that Specialist Edmonds was not in direct contact with militants in Derna. Instead, he was communicating directly with an undercover F.B.I. employee who pretended to have connections to the Islamic State.
After much discussion with the F.B.I. employee, Specialist Edmonds bought a round-trip ticket to Egypt.
“The tickets are bought and my trust is in Allah,” Specialist Edmonds told the F.B.I. employee, according to the affidavit. “I can only move forward now. I am fine being in Egypt, Sham or Libya, to be honest.” Sham is a reference to Syria.
He added: “I just want to answer the call.”
Specialist Edmonds said that he planned to travel through Sinai in Egypt. He said that he had been trained by the United States Army but had not served in combat. One problem, he told the undercover agent, was that he did not speak Arabic fluently. In response to a request from the F.B.I. employee, Specialist Edmonds said he would take American military manuals with him to train the fighters in Libya.
“My original goal was simply to fight,” Specialist Edmonds told the F.B.I. employee. “I’m not opposed to training the brother, my only request is I be allowed to fight and earn my stripes in the field before being given such an honor.”
The F.B.I acknowledged in court documents its new worry that Americans might try to join the Islamic State outside of Syria and Iraq. “To avoid increased law enforcement scrutiny of the common route to Syria through Turkey, foreign fighters from Western countries have traveled to locations in Egypt and on to Syria to join ISIL,” an F.B.I. agent said in the affidavit.
Since the Sept. 11 attacks, F.B.I. terrorism investigations have often relied on information gathered by undercover agents posing as terrorists. Although the tactic has been criticized by civil liberties advocates and others, there has never been a successful claim of entrapment.
The authorities provided an detailed account of how the F.B.I. employee befriended Specialist Edmonds. Last year, the employee sent him a friend request on Facebook. Then Specialist Edmonds, for reasons that are not explained, told the employee that he planned to travel abroad.
The employee asked him whether he would travel to Turkey or Egypt to study Islam. Specialist Edmonds responded: “I would love to study at an Islamic university but my first mission is simply to show up and be accountable on judgment day in front of our Lord.”
He added: “I’d rather struggle and strive hard in the cause of Allah rather than sit back and live a ‘comfortable’ life.”