FBI says refugees used social media to plan fight in Syria

Federal authorities in Texas have charged an Iraqi refugee with attempting to support the Islamic State.

A criminal complaint unsealed Thursday said that Al-Jayab, a Palestinian born in Iraq who came to the United States as a refugee in October 2012, communicated online about his intent to return to Syria to fight for terrorist groups, discussing his previous experience fighting against the regime in Syria.

Prosecutors in Sacramento said Friday that the unnamed “Individual I” in the California criminal complaint is 24-year-old Omar Faraj Saeed Al Hardan of Houston. One of them, Mohammed Younis Al-Jayab, is accused of traveling to Syria to fight.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who last month unsuccessfully attempted to block efforts by a local relief group and federal authorities to help resettle 21 Syrian refugees in the state, again urged the Obama administration to “halt” the resettlement program until a stricter vetting process is in place.

Jayab made his initial appearance in federal court in Sacramento on Friday, before U.S. Magistrate Carolyn Delaney, and was held without bail pending a preliminary hearing on January 22.

Authorities also arrested three of the man’s relatives, in Milwaukee, yesterday. There is no indication that Al Hardan, an Iraqi refugee, actually traveled to Syria. Since December, at least five USA suspects have been accused of ties to ISIS, including a Maryland man who was allegedly given more than $8,000 from an overseas operative for a U.S.-based attack.

In Sacramento, agents arrested another Iraqi refugee, Aws Al-Jayab.

Like Al-Jayab, he was a refugee that has been living in America. He also says he is in Syria. The two men had been communicating about weapons and training, according to prosecutors.

In the Texas case, the indictment of Hardan states that beginning in May 2014, Hardan “did unlawfully and knowingly attempt to provide material support and resources… training, expert advice and assistance, to a foreign terrorist organization, namely the Islamic State of Iraq”.

When FBI Director James Comey testified before the House Homeland Security Committee, he admitted that the government has no real way to conduct background checks on refugees.

Yet Al-Jayab criticized Islamic State group in several messages for killing Muslims. The good news, apparently, is that not every tentacle of our national security apparatus is deliberately ignoring social media posts of potential jihadists inside the United States.

If convicted, Hardan faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a United States dollars 250,000 fine.

The seized electronic communications also allegedly indicate that al-Jayab was working with others to assist Al Hardan’s future travel to the region through a contact in Syria, identified in court documents as “Individual F”.

Through an attorney, Al-Hardan told the judge he is married and has one child. “And so if someone has never made a ripple in the pond in Syria in a way that would get their identity or their interest reflected in our database, we can query our database until the cows come home, but there will be nothing show up because we have no record of them”.

Al Hardan’s bond hearing was set for next Wednesday.

Judge Mary Milloy appointed attorney David Adler to represent Al Hardan, a refugee whose arrest was announced Thursday.