Homeland Security News

A Maryland man who collected cash payments from a foreign company to plot an ISIS attack in the United States and help the group develop weaponized drones was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison.

Mohamed Elshinawy, 33, of Edgewood, pleaded guilty to supporting ISIS, terrorism financing and making false statements in connection with a terrorism matter, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office in Maryland.

Between February and December of 2015, Elshinawy conspired with others to support ISIS and provide the terrorist group with financial services, material support and other resources, the government said.

[Md. man pleads guilty to accepting nearly $9,000 to help carry out U.S. terrorist attack]

“In various other conversations, Elshinawy pledged his allegiance to ISIS, described himself as its soldier, committed to making violent jihad, and asked that others convey his message of loyalty to ISIS leadership,” the statement from federal prosecutors said.

A company based in the United Kingdom also transmitted about $8,700 to Elshinawy to pay for a terrorist attack on U.S. soil, according to his plea agreement.

The owner of the company was a person from Bangladesh who went to Syria to help ISIS develop weaponized drone technology, according to Elshinawy’s plea agreement. The company also sent money to Elshinawy to buy drone technology and parts to ship to ISIS members in Turkey and Syria, he admitted in his plea.

Read more:  The Washington Post

Noor Salman, the widow of the man who gunned down dozens of people at the Pulse nightclub two years ago, was found not guilty by a federal jury on Friday of helping her husband carry out a terrorist attack in the name of the Islamic State.

Jurors acquitted Ms. Salman on charges of aiding and abetting the commission of a terrorist act in the 2016 mass shooting and also found her not guilty of obstructing justice. She had been accused of giving misleading statements to law enforcement officers who interviewed her after the massacre, the worst terrorist attack on American soil since Sept. 11, 2001. At the time, it was also the deadliest mass shooting in modern United States history.

Read more: New York Times

A teenager who allegedly threatened to shoot up a Michigan courthouse has been charged with a felony.

Anthony B. Ostrander, 19, on Thursday, March 29, appeared in Gladwin County District Court for arraignment on one count of making a terrorist threat. The charge is punishable by up to 20 years imprisonment and a $20,000 fine.

The arraigning judge set Ostrander's bond at $1 million and he remains in custody in the Gladwin County Jail.

Sheriff Michael Shea previously said Ostrander on Wednesday made threats to enter the courthouse at 401 W. Cedar Ave. and shoot people. Ostrander made his threats via phone calls, Shea has said.

Ostrander made the threats after authorities issued a personal protection order against him, the sheriff has said. At the time, Ostrander already had a prior PPO against him.

Read more: MLive (Michigan)

Two personnel with the U.S.-led coalition battling Islamic State were killed and five were wounded by an improvised explosive device in Syria, the coalition said in a statement on Friday.

“Details pertaining to the incident are being withheld pending further investigation,” the coalition said, adding that the blast happened on Thursday at 2100 GMT.

The wounded were evacuated for further treatment, according to the statement, which did not give the nationalities of the casualties.

Islamic State militants continue to carry out attacks including bombings, ambushes and assassinations in Syria and Iraq despite the defeat last year of the cross-border “caliphate” declared in 2014 by their leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghadi.

Source:  Reuters

Austin's police chief said Thursday that the bomber who sparked fear in the Texas city was a “domestic terrorist," which is a stronger characterization than authorities had previously used.

"I am now believing and comfortable saying that this was a domestic terrorist, based on what he did to our community," Police Chief Brian Manley said at a news conference Thursday afternoon, after earlier comments to that effect caught the attention of some observers.

Two people were killed and four others wounded in the string of bombings in and around Austin that began on March 2. Mark Anthony Conditt, 23, the suspect in the case, blew himself up early March 21 as police closed in.

Manley said Thursday that as the investigation into the package and other bombings was ongoing, police were careful with their language because terrorism is specifically defined under federal law, and the suspect could have been apprehended alive.

Read more:  NBC News