June 11, 2015 10:36 a.m. ET
A Virginia teenager has pleaded guilty to helping a high-school classmate travel to Syria to try to join the Islamic State militant group, officials said Thursday.
The case marks the first time an American juvenile has been convicted of aiding the terror group, though a Maryland teenager pleaded guilty in 2012 for helping would-be terrorists in Europe. A group of Colorado teenage girls were intercepted apparently trying to travel to Syria but weren’t charged.
In the Virginia case, authorities arrested 17-year-old Ali Shukri Amin of Manassas, Va., in March, saying he used his computer to make contact with Islamic State members overseas and helped arrange travel for an 18-year-old classmate. Mr. Amin pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to provide material support to Islamic State, officials said. Islamic State is also known as ISIS or ISIL.
Assistant Attorney General John Carlin said Mr. Amin used Twitter to encourage Islamic State and its supporters. According to court papers, he also encouraged people to use bitcoin, a virtual currency, to send money to Islamic State.
It is highly unusual for federal authorities to charge a juvenile, because the federal justice system doesn’t have juvenile prison facilities. Federal prosecutors do sometimes refer cases to local authorities to prosecute them in state courts.
Write to Devlin Barrett at devlin.barrett@wsj.com
A Virginia teenager has pleaded guilty to helping a high-school classmate travel to Syria to try to join the Islamic State militant group, officials said Thursday.
The case marks the first time an American juvenile has been convicted of aiding the terror group, though a Maryland teenager pleaded guilty in 2012 for helping would-be terrorists in Europe. A group of Colorado teenage girls were intercepted apparently trying to travel to Syria but weren’t charged.
In the Virginia case, authorities arrested 17-year-old Ali Shukri Amin of Manassas, Va., in March, saying he used his computer to make contact with Islamic State members overseas and helped arrange travel for an 18-year-old classmate. Mr. Amin pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to provide material support to Islamic State, officials said. Islamic State is also known as ISIS or ISIL.
Assistant Attorney General John Carlin said Mr. Amin used Twitter to encourage Islamic State and its supporters. According to court papers, he also encouraged people to use bitcoin, a virtual currency, to send money to Islamic State.
It is highly unusual for federal authorities to charge a juvenile, because the federal justice system doesn’t have juvenile prison facilities. Federal prosecutors do sometimes refer cases to local authorities to prosecute them in state courts.
Write to Devlin Barrett at devlin.barrett@wsj.com
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