Illinois Army National Guard Spc Hasan Edmonds, 22, and his cousin, Jonas Edmonds, 29, both United States citizens, have been arrested and charged with one count each of conspiring to provide support to a foreign terrorist organisation. Assistant Attorney General for National Security, John P. Carlin, stated that Hasan Edmonds was arrested on Wednesday evening while attempting to board a plane for Egypt at Chicago International Airport with the goal of joining ISIS. His cousin, Jonas Edmonds, was arrested in his home in Aurora, Illinois.
Federal Prosecutors working the case stated that on top of the Army National Guard member planning to flee to Egypt to join the terrorist group, his cousin had plans to carry out an act of terror on American soil after Hasan Edmonds was out of the United States.
The individuals were brought to the attention of the FBI in 2014 as Hasan was initially making plans to join ISIS.
This incident comes on the heels of Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh, 47, a United States Air Force veteran who has been indicted for attempting to join ISIS. Pugh was deported back to the U.S. earlier this month after residing overseas for several years. FBI agents have found close to 200 jihadist propaganda videos on Pugh's computer and saw that he did many searches online citing phrases like "Borders controlled by Islamic state" and "Kobani border crossing."
In February three men from New York were arrested and charged for allegedly conspiring to join ISIS as well as being willing to carry out attacks for the terrorist group in the United States.
The men had plans to travel to the Middle East and had planned to launch attacks on President Obama as well as bomb attacks on Coney Island in Brooklyn. Also in February, six people from St. Louis, Chicago and New York were arrested and charged with supporting Syrian radicals with suspected ties to ISIS. These six were men as well as women from Bosnian descent between the ages of 25 and 45 that have emigrated to the United States.
Throughout the last year and a half, more than 30 people from the United States have been arrested and charged with joining and attempting to join the terrorist group, ISIS, in Syria and Iraq. Identifying those individuals that are attempting to provide resources to terrorist groups and bringing them to justice is very important for the security of the United States and is a primary goal of the National Security Division.
