(WWJ) After a five-week trial, a federal jury has found a Metro Detroit-area man guilty of supporting the extremist armed group Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, known as ISIS.
Aws Naser, 37, of Westland, now faces up to 35 years in prison after being convicted of providing material support to the terrorist organization and being a felon in possession of a destructive device.
Investigators said Naser was preparing to join ISIS in 2012 after a trip to Iraq.
According to the U.S. Justice Department, evidence presented during the trial showed that Naser became radicalized and frequently posted extreme Islamist ideological content on his YouTube channel and other social media platforms. Naser developed a close relationship with Russell Dennison, an aspiring Islamic Salafi-Jihadist preacher, and the two jointly traveled to Iraq in early 2012. Naser then bought one-way tickets to Syria in 2012 and Lebanon in 2013, but he wasn't allowed on the flights.
After spending time in prison on robbery charges, Naser joined ISIS supporter chatrooms, officials said, researching explosives and experimented with making explosives and operating drones.
The jury deliberated for around six hours before returning their verdict.
“The trial proved that this defendant spent years trying to support ISIS – first by attempting to join its ranks overseas, then by turning to explosives and extremist networks on American soil,” said Sue J. Bai, head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, in a statement. “His relentless pursuit of terrorism posed a clear threat to our national security and his conviction makes clear that the Justice Department will hold accountable those who seek to advance the violent aims of foreign terrorist organizations.”
“Defendant Aws Mohammed Naser is a bombmaker and self-avowed ‘son of the Islamic State’ — a vicious foreign terrorist organization hell-bent on murdering Americans and destroying our way of life,” said U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr. for the Eastern District of Michigan. “Naser tried to travel and fight for ISIS overseas but was turned away. So, Naser turned his fight inward on America, gathered drones, and built a bomb in his basement. But our office is dedicated to finding and applying the full force of the law against any terrorist, like Naser, plotting to harm Americans.”
This FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force investigated the case.