On Wednesday, March 25, 2015, the FBI arrested two men involved as American recruits of the ISIS terrorist organization, from Aurora, Illinois. The two ISIS American recruits arrested by the FBI were: Army National Guard Specialist Hasan Edmonds, 22, a U.S. citizen, and his cousin Jonas Edmonds, 29, a U.S. citizen. They were “arrested without incident at Chicago Midway International Airport by members of the Chicago FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) while attempting to fly to Cairo, Egypt.” “Both defendants were charged in a criminal complaint filed yesterday in U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Illinois with one count of conspiring to provide material support and resources to a foreign terrorist organization.”
Army National Guard Specialist Hasan Edmonds also wrote about his desire to conduct a terrorist attack on the United States of America, similar to the attacks on Paris.
In the arrest complaint, Army National Guard Specialist Hasan Edmonds planned to use his military training to use to fight on behalf of ISIS terrorist organization, and planned to travel “from Chicago and arrive in Cairo, Egypt, with layovers in Detroit and Amsterdam.”
In addition, they plotted a terrorist against the United States of America. The FBI reports: “As alleged in the complaint, both defendants also planned for Jonas Edmonds to carry out an act of terrorism in the United States after Hasan Edmonds departed. In particular, both defendants met with an FBI undercover employee and presented a plan to carry out an armed attack against a U.S. military facility in northern Illinois, an installation where Hasan Edmonds had been training. Jonas Edmonds asked the FBI undercover employee to assist in the attack and explained that they would use Hasan Edmonds’ uniforms and the information he supplied about how to access the installation and target officers for attack.”
As the New Yorker also reported on their case, Jonas Edmonds wrote “about ‘bring[ing] the pain to them here,’ maximizing ‘damage and mayhem,’ and ‘something like the brother in Paris did.’ ”
The FBI reports that the two men were indicted on April 3, 2015: “Conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.”
On November 19, 2015, the Chicago Tribune reported that both men pled guilty. The Chicago Tribune reports: “Two Aurora cousins who had allegedly aligned themselves with the Islamic State terror organization intend to plead guilty next month to charges alleging they plotted to carry out an attack earlier this year on the Joliet Armory. In a brief court hearing Thursday, a lawyer for Jonas and Hasan Edmonds said both are finalizing written plea agreements with prosecutors. U.S. District Judge John Lee set separate hearings next month for the two to plead guilty. The indictment charges both with conspiring to provide material support and resources to Islamic State.” “Federal agents had been tracking them since late last year when Hasan Edmonds exchanged Facebook messages about his desire to join Islamic State with an agent posing as a militant, according to the complaint.”
Hasan Edmonds (left), an Army National Guard specialist, and his cousin ,Jonas Edmonds (right), are charged with a conspiracy in which Hasan would travel overseas to join the ISIS terrorist group, while Jonas would coordinate an attack on the National Guard facility where Hasan had trained. (Source: CBS)
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