At least 60 individuals both native and foreign were charged with terrorism-related crimes this year, a record number that's been fueled by the Islamic State and its ability to radicalize people using social media.
Citing information from the U.S. Justice Department,
The Washington Post reported Friday that the majority of those charged are under 25 years old, and that roughly a third are under 21 — a much younger demographic than those historically recruited by groups like al-Qaida.
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Gathered below are seven Americans who were charged in 2015 with terrorist crimes. The list does not include those killed in while carrying out an attack, such as the San Bernardino shooters or Garland, Texas, shooters, who would presumably have been charged if they survived.
1. Enrique Marquez Jr. — The 24-year-old friend and former neighbor of Syed Rizwan Farook, the man who carried out the San Bernardino massacre with his wife, was charged Dec. 17 for allegedly conspiring to carry out two other attacks in 2012. Marquez and Farook reportedly had considered targeting a community college and a highway.
2. Mohamed Yousef Elshinawy — The 30-year-old Maryland man was taken into custody by the FBI on Dec. 11 and charged with providing material support to the Islamic State, lying to authorities about money transfers, and concealing evidence,
The Washington Post reported. Elshinawy allegedly received nearly $9,000 from the terrorist organization, and told the FBI the money was supposed to be used for "operational purposes" in carrying out an attack similar to the one staged in May at a contest in Garland, Texas, to draw the prophet Muhammad.
3. Jalil Ibn Ameer Aziz—The 19-year-old from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, was arrested Dec. 17 and charged with two counts of attempting to provide material support to terrorists.
According to The Washington Post, federal authorities said Aziz "pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, used Twitter to spread its propaganda and had a backpack with ammunition that suggests he might have been plotting an attack."
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4. Adam Shafi — The 22-year-old man from Fremont, California, was arrested July 3 after trying to board a flight to Istanbul. Prosecutors said he was trying to cross into Syria to join al-Nusra Front, an al-Qaida-affiliated group. He was charged with attempting to provide material support to a terrorist organization. An unsealed criminal complaint included excerpts from intercepted telephone conversations where he allegedly discussed joining the terror group,
The San Francisco Chronicle reported.
5. Abdirizak Mohamed Warsame — The 20-year-old from Eagan, Minnesota, was arrested and charged Dec. 9 with conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.
According to ABC News, "Warsame was the 10th young man from Minnesota's Somali community to be charged since April with terrorism-related counts accusing them of plotting to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State group," and "boasted that he was capable of building rockets that could threaten planes landing at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, and also once worked at the airport as a baggage handler."
6. Amin al-Baroudi — The Syrian-born man, 50, was naturalized as a U.S. citizen and resided for a time in Irvine, California, before he was arrested on Dec. 3 at Washington Dulles International Airport.
According to The Daily Mail, he was charged with "smuggling rifle scopes, night-vision goggles and other military-style gear from the United States to Islamic militants in his home country."
7. Farooq and Ibrahim Mohammad, Asif and Sultane Salim —
The Justice Department unsealed a four-count indictment on Nov. 5 against four Ohio men ages 35 to 40 that were "conspiring to travel to Yemen to provide thousands of dollars to Anwar Al-Awlaki in an effort to support violent jihad." The Salim brothers are U.S. citizens, while the Mohammad brothers are from India, and married U.S. citizens. The indictment alleges that on July 22, 2009, "Farooq Mohammad traveled with two other people to Yemen to meet Awlaki. They were unable to meet with Awlaki, so instead traveled to Sana’a, Yemen, to meet with one of his associates. Farooq Mohammad and his two fellow travelers gave the associate approximately $22,000 to be given to Awlaki."
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