Former Santa Clara native arrested at Seattle airport was allegedly set to journey abroad to hitch ISIS

By Christina Carrega | CNN

A Washington state man was preparing to board an international flight on Friday when he was arrested for allegedly planning to join ISIS and “jihad” on their behalf, it said Ministry of Justice on Tuesday.

Elvin Hunter Bgorn Williams, 20, of Seattle, is charged with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years imprisonment. Williams first appeared in court via videoconference Tuesday and a federal judge ordered his detention. CNN has asked its attorney to comment.

Since Williams was in high school, administrators and his mother have contacted the FBI to report their concerns about his “self-radicalized” views on ISIS.

In October 2017, Williams “told others at the school that he wanted to join ISIS and claimed that ISIS’s attack in May 2017 on a music concert in Manchester, UK that killed and injured numerous people was justified because of the Actor was dressed ”. provocative ”, it says in the criminal complaint. The following month, his mother reported to the FBI that he was moving to Syria or Iraq to fight for ISIS and that he was kicked off social media for violating the show’s terms for posting pro-ISIS -Posts had violated.

According to the prosecutor, Williams swore an oath of allegiance to the current IS leader in November 2020.

Williams had left his mother’s home in Santa Clara, California, and lived in Seattle, where he was welcomed by members of a mosque “out of charity” – he encouraged Williams to deradicalize, helped him with an apartment, with food, and with a semester tuition at the University. … The mosque members made it clear to Williams that he would have to leave ISIS if he wanted to accept the mosque’s help, ”the complaint said.

When members of the mosque learned that Williams was still chatting online with other radical-minded individuals, the mosque ended their relationship with him.

Using confidential sources near Williams, the FBI monitored his activities and became aware of his efforts to travel to the Middle East and join ISIS. Williams told his staff that if he couldn’t travel abroad, he would carry out an attack in the United States on behalf of ISIS, prosecutors say. Williams began communicating with those he believed were ISIS recruiters who could lead him to an ISIS terrorist cell in the Middle East or other parts of the world.

In early May, Williams booked air travel from Seattle to Amsterdam and on to Egypt to join IS. On May 28th, he went to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to take the first leg of his international flight. Williams was arrested there on Friday at the departure gate.

The CNN Wire
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