Feds bust another young American accused of tweeting support for ISIS

By Fusion Staff  |  September 17, 2015 | 7:49pm
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Two months after a teen pled guilty to tweeting about how ISIS would benefit from Bitcoin, the feds have picked up another young American for allegedly attempting to provide material support to terror group ISIS (which the government refers to as ISIL).

Starting sometime in 2013 and continuing until the present, according to a Justice Department criminal complaint, Ali Saleh, a 22-year-old Queens resident, allegedly used Twitter accounts to, “indicate his support of ISIL and express his intent to join ISIL.”

For instance, in August 2014 using the account @alisaleh1292 (now suspended), the government says retweeted messages in support of ISIS:

Saleh also admitted in an interview with authorities that he used another account, @Hijra_s (also suspended) to Tweet the following:

According to the government’s complaint, Saleh also attempted to travel to the Middle East, while contacting another ISIS sympathizer on Twitter, possibly about how to travel to ISIS-controlled territories.

Turned away at JFK, he tried to board a flight in Philadelphia. Agents intercepted him there too. Here is what he told them in an interview:

Saleh made one final attempt to fly out of the country in this August, and also continued to tweet support for ISIS. On Thursday, the Feds had enough, and arrested him at his home in Queens.

He is scheduled to appear before a judge in Brooklyn today.

RELATED:

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Teen who tried to give ISIS Bitcoin advice pleads guilty to supporting terror

Rob covers business, economics and the environment for Fusion. He previously worked at Business Insider. He grew up in Chicago.

 
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