Hamden Man Charged with Attempting to Travel to Fight for Isis

John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, John C. Demers, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, and Brian C. Turner, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, today announced that KEVIN IMAN McCORMICK, 26, of Hamden, has been charged by indictment with attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization.

McCormick was arrested on October 21, 2019, and charged by federal criminal complaint.  On October 30, a federal grand jury in New Haven returned an indictment charging McCormick with the offense.  The affidavit in support of the criminal complaint was unsealed today.

As alleged in court documents and statements made in court, in October 2019, McCormick made several statements to others expressing a desire to travel to Syria and to fight for ISIS.  In one conversation, McCormick stated “I gotta fight bro, because those people, Abu Masa and ISIL, they fought for me bro, I know it, I can feel it, in my heart. So it’s my time to fight . . . It just is what it is bro, it’s just my – it’s just my time to go bro.”  When McCormick was asked to elaborate on where he would like to travel, McCormick responded, “I don’t know, I don’t know bro – it’s gotta be like Syria. Where ISIL is at….whichever place is easiest, whichever place I can get there the fastest, the quickest, the easiest, and where I can have a rifle and I can have some people bro. That’s what I need, I need a rifle and I need some people, I need Islamic law, I need, that’s what I need, because if I have these things, it’s going to be very hard to kill me.”

It is also alleged that, on October 12, 2019, McCormick attempted to board a flight from Connecticut to Jamaica, but was prevented by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. McCormick subsequently told an individual that he wanted to travel to Jamaica, and then onward to Syria to join ISIS.  He also indicated that he wanted to acquire weapons.

It is further alleged that, on October 19, 2019, McCormick made a video during which he pledged allegiance to ISIS and its leader, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi.  Also on that date, he purchased a plane ticket from Toronto, Canada, to Amman, Jordan.  On October 21, 2019, McCormick was arrested after he traveled to a small private airport in Connecticut where he expected to board a plane that would fly him to Canada.

McCormick has been detained since his arrest.

The charge of conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.

U.S. Attorney Durham stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  Charges are only allegations, and each defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This matter is being investigated by Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) with the assistance of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

The FBI’s JTTF includes participants from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Connecticut State Police, Connecticut Department of Correction, Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police Department, Norwich Police Department, Hartford Police Department, Stamford Police Department, Norwalk Police Department, Town of Groton Police Department, UConn Police Department, Yale Police Department, and New York Police Department.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas P. Morabito and Trial Attorney Justin Sher from the Counterterrorism Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.

DOD Identifies Army Casualty

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The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Freedom's Sentinel.

Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Goble, 33, of Washington Township, New Jersey, died Dec. 23, 2019, as a result of injuries sustained while his unit was engaged in combat operations on Dec. 22, 2019, in Kunduz Province, Afghanistan. The incident is under investigation.

Goble was assigned to 1st Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.

For more information regarding Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Goble, media may contact Lt. Col. Loren Bymer, U.S. Army Special Operations Command Public Affairs, at 910-432-3383 or loren.bymer@socom.mil.

West Haven Man Arrested after Attempting to Travel to Middle East to Join and Fight for ISIS

John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, John C. Demers, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, and Brian C. Turner, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, today announced that AHMAD KHALIL ELSHAZLY, 22, of West Haven, has been charged by a federal criminal complaint with attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization.

Elshazly was arrested yesterday.  He appeared today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert M. Spector in New Haven and was ordered detained.

As alleged in the criminal complaint, beginning in approximately September 2018, Elshazly, a U.S. citizen, has made numerous statements to others, both in person and through online messaging applications, expressing a desire to travel to Syria and the surrounding area to fight on behalf of ISIS.  In February 2019, Elshazly stated that he had saved approximately $1,000 with the intention of using the money to travel to Jordan to transit to Syria to be with ISIS.

It is further alleged that, in October 2019, during a meeting with other individuals, Elshazly made numerous statements supporting ISIS, including, “…they say, War has started and we are marching to it…..but all doors are closed, closed. I am talking to myself now, asking myself, How do I get there? How can I help Muslims? How can I do anything?”  He further stated, “God willing! May this country [United States] burn the same way they burned Muslims! May they burn in fire at the end!”  Elshazly made these statements in a public venue.  When he was asked to lower his voice when talking loudly, Elshazly proclaimed “I am not scared.”

During the same meeting, it is alleged that Elshazly said, “…I want to go to the caliphate and fight there. I can kill maybe…like a hundred kaffir. I can kill them. A hundred kaffirs. If I do something here how many kaffirs could I kill? One, two, three and then I get shot and I die. It is more benefitting if I go there, I could kill more and will get more faithful rewards.”

It is further alleged that, in December 2019, Elshazly sent another individual a series of YouTube videos explaining how various high-powered firearms and other weaponry work.

It is alleged that, because he was concerned about being stopped by law enforcement at an airport, Elshazly arranged to travel by ship to Turkey.  Elshazly provided another individual with $500 that Elshazly believed would be used to pay for a portion of his trip.  On December 15, 2019, Elshazly was arrested after he arrived in Stonington, Connecticut, where he expected to board a boat to begin his trip.

 “The U.S. Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners are committed to targeting and stopping those who wish to cause mayhem, both in the U.S. and abroad, before they are successful,” said U.S. Attorney Durham.  “I thank the FBI’s JTTF and all the agencies involved in the lengthy investigation that culminated in yesterday’s arrest.  Their work has saved lives.”

“As alleged in the complaint, Elshazly was bent on supporting ISIS,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers.  “Worried that his efforts here would be too small and that he would be stopped at the airport, he planned to travel overseas aboard a container ship to join and fight for ISIS.  The National Security Division is committed to identifying and holding accountable those who continue to seek to provide material support to foreign terrorist organizations.”

“It is crucial the citizens of Connecticut, and across the country, know we at the FBI and our task force partners are unwavering in our work to successfully identify and disrupt potential terrorist activities, as this case demonstrates,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Turner.  “Through nonstop intelligence gathering and great investigative techniques, we will continue to pursue those who seek to bring harm to U.S. citizens and dismantle potential terrorist actions wherever they may be.”

The charge of conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.

U.S. Attorney Durham stressed that a complaint is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt.  Charges are only allegations, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This matter is being investigated by Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) with the assistance of the Stonington Police Department, New Haven Police Department and Connecticut State Police.  The FBI’s JTTF includes participants from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Connecticut State Police, Connecticut Department of Correction, Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police Department, Norwich Police Department, Hartford Police Department, Stamford Police Department, Norwalk Police Department, Town of Groton Police Department, UConn Police Department, Yale Police Department, and New York Police Department.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas P. Morabito and Trial Attorneys Justin Sher and Jennifer Burke from the Counterterrorism Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.

Federal Inmate Convicted of Attempting to Provide Material Support to ISIS

BEAUMONT, Texas – A 45-year-old international terrorist imprisoned in the U.S. Bureau of Prisons has been convicted of additional offenses in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Joseph D. Brown today.

Mohamed Ibrahim Ahmed, an Ethiopian national born in Eretria, was found guilty by a jury of attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization (ISIS) and making a false statement to the FBI, following a seven-day trial before U.S. District Judge Marcia A. Crone.

“This terrorist has shown that he was committed to his ideology and to violence,” said Eastern District of Texas U.S. Attorney Joseph D. Brown.  “It was important to pursue these charges not only to keep him in prison, but to deter others who would recruit in jail cells.”

“This defendant is a repeat offender.  While in prison on terrorism charges, Ahmed continued to recruit fellow inmates to join ISIS to train them and to help them plan future attacks,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers.  “As long as terrorists keep offending, the Department will continue to bring them to justice.  We have done so in this case.”

“The threat posed by individuals like Ahmed is real and one we cannot afford to underestimate or ignore,” said Special Agent in Charge Perrye Turner of the FBI Houston Division.  “The threat from ISIS continues to evolve to include sustained radicalization online, loss of the physical caliphate, and inspiration for individuals to conduct attacks in their home countries using any means possible.  It is with any means possible and using all tools available to us that the FBI will continue to investigate criminal and national security threats to the United States, wherever they originate.”

According to information presented in court, in 2013 Ahmed was convicted in the Southern District of New York of conspiring to provide material support to and receive military-type training from a foreign terrorist organization.  Ahmed had attended an al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan in 1996 and was a member of the Brandbergen Mosque network, which financially and logistically supported other terrorist groups.  A federal judge in New York sentenced Ahmed to 111 months in federal prison and he was transferred to the Federal Correctional Institute (FCI) in Beaumont, Texas to serve his sentence.

            Ahmed continued his terrorist activities while serving his sentence at FCI-Beaumont.  He recruited at least five inmates to join ISIS and to conduct terrorist acts in the United States after their release from federal custody, telling them that he was aligned with ISIS and supported al Shabaab and al Qaeda.  From prison, he celebrated the Ariana Grande concert bombing and other acts of terror in the news, telling an inmate, “They kill kids, we gonna kill kids.”  Ahmed wanted the inmates he was recruiting to either travel abroad to join ISIS, or create “sleeper cells” within the United States to carry out attacks.

            Ahmed provided would-be recruits with a training manual on how to carry out violent jihad, including topics such as “how to carry out guerilla war,” “selection of human targets,” and “how to carry out assassinations.”  He even held physical training exercises with other inmates in the prison yard to get them in shape to carry out the acts of terror he was plotting.  Ahmed also discussed a plot with fellow inmates to bomb the Federal Detention Center in New York City as a revenge for his prosecution there.

Under the federal statute, Ahmed faces up to 25 years in federal prison at sentencing.  The maximum statutory sentence prescribed by Congress is provided here for information purposes, as the sentencing will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.  A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the U.S. Probation Office.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Beaumont Resident Agency, out of the Houston Division, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher T. Tortorice and Trial Attorneys Alicia Cook and Katie Sweeten of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.