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“A Danish woman evacuated from a Syrian detention camp last year was sentenced on Friday [11/18/2022] to three years in prison by a Danish court for aiding Islamic State militants and illegally travelling to and residing in conflict zones,…

The 35-year-old woman travelled to Syria with her husband in 2013. When trying to escape Islamic State’s so-called caliphate in 2018 with the help of human traffickers, they were captured by Kurdish forces, who sent her to the al-Roj detention camp in Kurdish-held territory in northeastern Syria due to their association with Islamic State. … The woman was separated from her husband during the escape attempt, and it is unclear what happened to him.

The woman pleaded guilty to aiding Islamic State by working as a housewife and to illegally travelling to and residing in a conflict area, her lawyer told Reuters. The woman accepted the three-year sentence.”

– Reuters, “Danish Woman Evacuated From Syrian Camps Sentenced for Aiding Islamic State,” reuters.com, November 18, 2022

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.

“An unusual terrorism case in Chicago came to a close Thursday [11/24/2022] when a federal judge handed a seven-and-a-half-year prison sentence to a former DePaul University student who tried to aid the Islamic State with a computer script.

Before he was sentenced, Thomas Osadzinski, 23, told U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman that, ‘I failed everyone, and I failed myself.’ …

The judge also gave Osadzinski 10 years of supervised release.

Osadzinski’s prosecution was believed to be the first of its kind when it began three years ago – a terrorism case brought against a U.S.-based defendant involving computer code. …

Prosecutors said Osadzinski designed a process that uses a computer script to make Islamic State propaganda more conveniently accessed and disseminated by users on the social media platform Telegram.

Defense attorney Joshua Herman argued at trial that Osadzinski acted independently. He said … ‘there must be coordination with’ or direction from, the Islamic State to find Osadzinski guilty. But Assistant U.S. Attorney Melody Wells argued there was ‘nothing independent about this.’ She told jurors Osadzinski had been responding to Islamic State propaganda, which urged supporters to ‘strive patiently in the digital arena.’

In the end, the jury convicted Osadzinski of attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State after a trial that featured roughly two weeks of evidence.”

– Sun-Times Media Wire, “Former Depaul Student Sentenced for Trying To Help Islamic State With Computer Program,” abc7chicago.com, November 18, 2022

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.

“Congress will not consider additional funding for the World Trade Center Health Program, which has helped thousands of first responders access medical treatment for exposure to toxic debris after the September 11 terror attacks.

Since 2010, the program has helped fund the treatment of respiratory illness for first responders who were exposed to toxic debris from 9/11. …

The program covers the lifespan of all people exposed, including responders and survivors of the attack on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, the Shanksville crash site.

While the program was reauthorized in 2015 and extended through 2090 with bipartisan support, it is estimated to be too cash-strapped to take on any new claims after October 2024.”

– J.D. Allen, “Funding for 9/11 Health Program Is Left Out of Federal Omnibus Bill,” wshu.org, December 20, 2022

“A last-second deal in the massive government funding bill will add $1 billion to the World Trade Center health program and buy several years before it runs into a budget crunch,…

Supporters and advocates had hoped to pass a $3.6 billion measure authored by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., that would have permanently plugged the hole and covered military personnel who are ill from responding to the Pentagon attack in 2001. The health program is facing a $3 billion deficit over the next decade.

The 9/11 health fund money was unexpectedly left out of the original version of the $1.7 trillion spending, prompting outrage from advocates and New York lawmakers.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell blocked that at the behest of several of his members, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told the Daily News. …

Late Wednesday, Gillibrand and Schumer took a deal to get $1 billion to at least shore up the program. The money is being added as an amendment and will have to be voted on, but is expected to pass easily with McConnell’s support.

The move sparked both relief and anger. On one hand, the $1 billion probably pushes the worst problems for the health program until 2027. On the other, a stopgap like that does not fix the underlying formula used to fund the program, which helped cause the deficit.”

– Michael McAuliff, “Congressional Negotiators Agree to Add $1 Billion for 9/11 Health Fund in End-of-Year Spending Bill,” news.yahoo.com, December 21, 2022

“$1 billion has been set aside in the 2023 federal spending bill for the World Trade Center Health Program, which provides health benefits to 9/11 first responders and survivors.

This new funding will enable it to continue providing uninterrupted service until at least 2027. …

The World Trade Center Health Program was established by the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010.

In 2015, the plan was reauthorized until 2090.”

– CBS New York Team, “2023 Federal Spending Bill Includes $1 Billion for World Trade Center Health Program,” cbsnews.com, December 24, 2022

“More than two decades after the deadly Sept. 11, 2001, attack, the Fairness for 9/11 Families Act will compensate nearly 6,000 spouses and children the $2.7 billion they are owed.

In December [2022], the Fairness for 9/11 Families Act was passed by the Senate and Congress.

Last week, it was signed into law by President Joe Biden.

The Fairness for 9/11 Families Act includes a funding source for the lump-sum catch-up payments — totaling $2.7 billion — for the thousands of spouses and family members in the United States Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund (USVSST). …

Direct family members of first responders who perished on Sept. 11, 2001, had been barred from receiving money owed to them from the USVSST and have been tirelessly advocating to right the wrong. …

Created in 2015, the USVSST is meant to provide compensation to American hostages and their families, as well as families of those who died on Sept.11. However, because some families received money from the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF), they were precluded from receiving additional funds from the USVSST. …

Congress corrected this injustice in 2019, through the United States Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund Clarification Act.”

– Kristin F. Dalton, “Biden Signs Bill Compensating 6K Families of 9/11 Victims with 2.7 Billion, From Fund They Were Previously Barred From,” silive.com, January 4, 2023

“A Michigan man was convicted by a federal jury today [1/31/2023]  in the Eastern District of Michigan on charges of providing, attempting to provide, and conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization, in connection with his support for ISIS in Syria from 2015-2018. He was also convicted of receiving military-type training from ISIS while in Syria.

Ibraheem Izzy Musaibli, 32, of Dearborn, was convicted after a nine-day trial conducted before U.S. District Judge David M. Lawson in Detroit. The jury deliberated for approximately four hours before returning the guilty verdict. …

Evidence provided during the trial established that Musaibli, originally born in Dearborn, moved to Yemen in April 2015. From Yemen, he traveled to Syria in the fall of 2015 where he attended an ISIS-run religious training camp before undergoing military training where he learned to shoot, carry and otherwise handle a machine gun. Upon graduation from the ISIS military training camp, Musaibli swore allegiance to ISIS and its leader and remained with ISIS for over two and half years. Musaibli was eventually captured by Syrian Democratic Forces in 2018 and turned over to the FBI and flown back to the United States to face terrorism related charges.

Musaibli faces a maximum penalty of 50 years in prison when he is sentenced. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.”

– United States Department of Justice, “Michigan Man Convicted of Charges of Providing Material Support to ISIS,” justice.gov, January 31, 2023

Editor’s notes:

• Musaibli was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment on June 15, 2023 with five years credit for time served. See The Associated Press, “Michigan Man Gets 14 Years in Prison for Fighting for Islamic State,” nbcnews.com, June 16, 2023

• 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.

“A Dayton-area man will spend 10 years in prison after police said he tried to go overseas, to join the terrorist group ISIS.

Twenty-three-year-old Naser Almadaoji, from Beavercreek, was sentenced on Wednesday [2/1/2023].

According to court documents, Almadaoji purchased a plane ticket for travel on Oct. 24, 2018, and was arrested after checking in and obtaining his boarding pass.

Almadaoji intended to travel to Astana, Kazakhstan, where he planned to be smuggled into Afghanistan so that he could join and receive military training from ISIS- Khorasan (ISIS-K) in support of both that terrorist group and ISIS, those documents state. …

He pleaded guilty in 2021, right before he was scheduled to go on trial.

‘Almadaoji was not just an ideological supporter of terrorism, he attempted to train to fight, assassinate, kidnap and kill, in hopes of employing violence in America on behalf of ISIS,’ U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker said in a statement.”

– WLWT Digital Staff, “Ohio Man Sentenced to Prison for Attempting to Join ISIS,” wlwt.com, February 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.

“James Bradley, aka Abdullah, 21, of the Bronx, New York, and Arwa Muthana, 30, of Hoover, Alabama, were sentenced to 11 years in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release and nine years in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release, respectively, for attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS).

In September 2022, Bradley and Muthana pleaded guilty to attempting to provide material support to ISIS before U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer. According to court documents, Bradley and Muthana are ISIS supporters who sought to travel to the Middle East to join and fight for ISIS. Bradley expressed violent extremist views since at least 2019, including his desire to support ISIS by traveling overseas to join the group or committing a terrorist attack in the United States.”

– The United States Department of Justice, “ New York Man and Woman Sentenced for Attempting to Provide Material Support to ISIS,” justice.gov, February 3, 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.

“A federal jury yesterday [2/7/2023] convicted Ruslan Maratovich Asainov, 46, a U.S. citizen and former resident of Bay Ridge, New York, of all five counts of an indictment charging him with conspiracy to provide material support to ISIS; providing material support to ISIS in the form of personnel, training, expert advice and assistance; receipt of military-type training from ISIS; and obstruction of justice. The jury also found that the defendant’s provision of material support to ISIS resulted in the death of one or more persons. The verdict followed a two-week trial before U.S. District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis.

‘Mr. Asainov, a US citizen, traveled abroad to kill and train others to kill on behalf of ISIS. Now, he is being held accountable,’ said Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew G. Olsen. …

‘As proven at trial, Asainov was a member of ISIS who was so committed to the terrorist organization’s evil cause that he abandoned his young family here in Brooklyn, New York, to make an extraordinary journey to the battlefield in Syria where he became a lethal sniper and trained many others to kill their adversaries, and even after being captured still pledged his allegiance to ISIS’ murderous path,’ said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York. ‘There is no place in a civilized world for the defendant’s bloody campaign of death and destruction [Peace continued].'”

– United States Department of Justice, “American Citizen Convicted of Providing Material Support to ISIS that Resulted in Death and Related Offenses,” justice.gov, February 8, 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.