TerrorismChicago-area would-be terrorist to remain in jail
Last Friday a federal judge reversed the ruling of another judge and ordered that a Chicago-area teen accused of attempting to join al Qaeda-linked militants in Syria be kept in jail until his trail rather than be released to his family.
Tounisi arrested trying to join al-Quaeda group // Source: presstv.ir
Last Friday a federal judge reversed the ruling of another judge and ordered that a Chicago-area teen accused of attempting to join al Qaeda-linked militants in Syria be kept in jail until his trail rather than be released to his family.
Abdella Ahmad Tounisi, of Aurora, Illinois, posed a potential threat to the “entire world community,” U.S. District Judge Edmond Chang told the court. Tounisi is charged with one count of attempting to provide material to a foreign terrorist organization, which carries a maximum fifteen year prison sentence.
Huffington Postreports that 18-year old Tounisi was caught in an Internet sting after contacting a Web site set up by the FBI to connect would-be fighters with terrorists, according to court filings. Tounisi was arrested at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago while he was leaving the United States for the first leg of his trip to Syria.
Judge Chang cited e-mails in which Tounisi stated his intentions to join the group currently fighting Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime.
According to Chang, the e-mails indicate “the defendant was knowingly attempting to join this group — a very dangerous group.”
Prosecutor William Ridgway said that Tounisi was so driven to join the group, that he even diverted financial aid money to attend the College of DuPage to pay for his plane ticket.
The order will keep Tounisi in prison until his trial. He showed no emotion, but his mother and father were sad and angry with the ruling.
Just one day earlier, U.S. Magistrate Judge Daniel Martin ruled that Tounisi could be released to home confinement until his trial.
Defense Attorney Molly Amour declined to comment after the ruling.
The Web site which Tounisi visited included invitations to “Join your lion brothers … fighting under the true banner of Islam.” Tounisi also engaged in several conversations with an FBI agent who was posing as a terrorist recruiter according to court filings.
