TerrorismFlorida teen indicted on terrorism charges
Shelton Thomas Bell, 19, of Jacksonville, Florida has been indicted on federal charges of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists. The indictment claims Bell planned to travel to Arabian Peninsula and join Ansar Al-Sharia (AAS), an alias for Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, to take part in “jihad.”
Shelton Thomas Bell, 19, of Jacksonville, Florida has been indicted on federal charges of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists.
Local Fox affiliateWTEV reports that the indictment claims Bell planned to travel to Arabian Peninsula and join Ansar Al-Sharia (AAS), an alias for Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, to take part in “jihad.”
Federal authorities say that Bell purchased a passport through the Web site expresspassport.com so he could travel to the Middle East. Investigators also say that Bell leased a laptop in order to download lectures from known terrorist leaders and viewed maps and locations where he and an unidentified accomplice could cross into Yemen to join the AAS.
The indictment goes on to say that on 4 July 2012 Bell and the accomplice person held nighttime “training sessions” in a cemetery.
The “individuals dressed in dark clothing, wore masks and gloves, wrapped their footwear in tape, and, caused significant damage to religious statues at the cemetery,” the indictment states.
The two also participated in a firearms training session on the same day, which they videotaped.
Once the training was concluded, Bell purchased a one way ticket from Jacksonville to Tel Aviv in late September 2012 and spent several months overseas before returning to the United States.
If convicted, Bell could face a minimum of fifteen years for each charge.
