On Monday, The Washington Times reported on a government issued message to police in Northern Virginia that informed the local officers of nine individuals that had been arrested on charges of aiding ISIS since 2014. The report, issued by the Northern Virginia Regional Intelligence Center on December 21, was labeled “law enforcement sensitive” and issued profiles of the nine residents in order to help state and federal agents recognize trends in ISIS’ recruitment of individuals. This specific report detailed Muslims located near D.C. that were intent on becoming mass killers in the name of jihad.
According to the report, all but one of the Northern Virginia residents were in their teens or early 20’s. Among the nine individuals arrested on suspicion of conducting terrorism planning through social media applications were well educated students, a police officer, Army soldiers, and bankers.
The Washington Times obtained the intelligence report detailing the nine individuals.
One man by the name of Ali Shukir Amin pleaded guilty to providing support to the Islamic State and was sentenced to 136 months in prison. Amin ran a pro-ISIS blog and tweeted instructions to ISIS supporters about how to hide money transfers using bitcoin and how to travel to Syria.
A woman by the name of Heather Coffman was sentenced to 54 months in prison after pleading guilty to making a false statement about her involvement in international terrorism. Discharged from the Army after only four months, Coffman worked in sales while she ran Facebook pages promoting ISIS.
Mohammad Bilor Jalloh served as a combat engineer in the Virginia National Guard before pleading guilty to conspiring to help the Islamic State in October. Jalloh allegedly tried to buy firearms with the intention of carrying out a “Fort Hood-style” massacre.
Mohammad Jamal Khaweis, who worked at multiple banks and hotels, was arrested in Turkey for conspiring to aid the Islamic State. He traveled to Syria in 2015 with the intention of becoming a foreign fighter, before changing his mind and escaping.
The oldest of the nine arrested, 36-year-old Nicholas Young, was working s a Metro Police officer before his arrest. Authorities report that he went to Libya to inform ISIS supporters of methods to use to avoid being detected by law enforcement.
Harris Qatar, a Wells Fargo employee who attended Northern Virginia Community College, created 60 Twitter accounts to push Islamic State propaganda and stalked residents in the area that were on the group’s “kill lists.”
Among the other three were college students and a Starbucks barista.
[revad2]
