“A U.S. citizen who moved his family to Syria to join the Islamic State terrorist group has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison.
Emraan Ali, 55, a U.S. citizen born in Trinidad and Tobago, was sentenced Tuesday [3/27/2023] in Miami federal court, according to court records. He pleaded guilty in November to conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.
According to court records, Ali moved his family from Trinidad and Tobago to Brazil, and then to Turkey and eventually Syria in March 2015. He falsely told his children that they were going on vacation but actually intended to join IS, prosecutors said.”
– Associated Press, “U.S. Citizen Gets 20 Years for Joining Islamic State Group,” abcnews.go.com, April 2, 2023
Editor’s Note: According to most historians of the Islamic State (also referred to as ISIS, ISIL, and Daesh), “the group emerged out of al-Qaeda in Iraq as a response to the U.S. invasion in 2003.” See Hassan Hassan, “The True Origins of ISIS,” theatlantic.com, November 30, 2018, for more information.