New Jersey Man Charged For Planning To Join ISIL
KABUL: (Middle East Press) An American-Jordanian man has been arrested and charged for trying to join the ISIL Takfiri terrorist group, according to the US Justice Department.
Twenty-year-old Nader Saadeh from New Jersey was arrested on Monday after he had shown allegiance to the ISIL group for months and seeking to “form a small army,” the department stated.
Saadeh, who sought to join the terror group along with three other men, had traveled to the Middle East once earlier this year, but was detained in Jordan in May.
His 23-year-old brother, Alaa Saadeh, his friend, Samuel Topaz, 21, and an unnamed 20-year-old were the other people who were all arrested in June.
According to the three men, Saadeh intended to join the group from Jordan and become a “full-fledged” member.
As part of his effort, Saadeh kept watching propaganda videos and speeches supporting the terrorists before leaving the US.
A 2013 message, found by federal agents from his email and social media accounts, shows that Saadeh and a friend were discussing building a “small army” of their friends.
“Think of it, it will probably be like 2-4 yrs from now, we will be in the prime of our lives,” he wrote.
His mother later found out about Saadeh’s intentions and tried to dissuade him from joining ISIL. “Do not go anywhere if u love me don’t kill your mom,” her mom wrote him.
Saadeh had supported the group’s burning of a Jordanian pilot and the massacre at the French newspaper Charlie Hebdo early this year.
He is now facing a maximum penalty of 20 years in jail and a fine of $250,000.
The ISIL terrorists, many of whom were initially trained by the CIA in Jordan in 2012 to destabilize the Syrian government, are engaged in crimes against humanity in the areas under their control.
So far, several American people have joined the group and several others have been arrested for trying to either support or join the terrorists.
