Thats what happens when you have so many lefty controlled states. They don't care about taxpayers.
Isis
- Thread starter Goober
- Start date
I favour the 'lock them up for life' model of death penalty (death by old age basically). That way if it turns out the state made a mistake/lied then at least some of the harm can be undone.
Actually works out cheaper in the long run as well in most cases as i understand it. Not that i mind spending the money it takes for justice.
Nah, most of the cost is for all the stupid stuff we've done to try to ensure "justice". . . mandatory appeals, permissive appeals, and the cost of housing the prisoner until execution (Death Row costs are higher than the general population).
I like your idea (it was yours, right?) of a new standard for capital punishment, "beyond the shadow of a doubt."
Yeah but that's what makes it more expensive. I meant that it's cheaper to just let them die of old age. Depending on the age arrested of course it's actually less money to just throw them in jail and forget about them than it is to go through all the mandatory appeals, etc - AND the higher bar for proof for capital cases means that more bad guys actually wind up getting off.
It's cheaper and easier to just throw away the key and let them rot.
I don't think that one was mine? I'm more likely to argue that there's always doubt becuase we can't trust the state or it's agents and therefore we should be cautious about giving them the power of capital punishment. Better to have the option to correct the mistake if we find out after.
Down hereabouts the standard for criminal conviction is "beyond a reasonable doubt." Somebody on the board suggested that the standard for the death penalty (not conviction, just execution) should be "beyond a shadow of a doubt," evidence so compelling that the jury could find no conceivable alternative and was absolutely sure this guy did it. The example given was clear video evidence showing the shooting.
Accused extremist recruiter expected to plead guilty to terrorism charges
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Published Feb 21, 2023 • 1 minute read
OTTAWA — An accused extremist recruiter is returning to the Ontario Superior Court on Thursday and is expected to plead guilty to terrorism offences, eight years after he was first charged.
Awso Peshdary’s criminal trial had been on hold pending a decision in Federal Court, where his lawyers were arguing that charges should be dropped because Canada’s spy agency was authorized to surveil him based on misleading information.
The Federal Court has not yet made a ruling, but Peshdary’s lawyers have now filed a motion with the criminal court to have the matter dealt with.
They say their client is now prepared to plead guilty, and the defence is submitting a joint application with the Crown to proceed directly to sentencing.
Peshdary was arrested on terrorism-related charges in February 2015, based on allegations that he recruited and financed homegrown terrorists and helped Islamic State militants travel to Syria.
His case has dragged on in court while lawyers representing him, the RCMP and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service debated what evidence was admissible and could be disclosed in the proceedings.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Published Feb 21, 2023 • 1 minute read
OTTAWA — An accused extremist recruiter is returning to the Ontario Superior Court on Thursday and is expected to plead guilty to terrorism offences, eight years after he was first charged.
Awso Peshdary’s criminal trial had been on hold pending a decision in Federal Court, where his lawyers were arguing that charges should be dropped because Canada’s spy agency was authorized to surveil him based on misleading information.
The Federal Court has not yet made a ruling, but Peshdary’s lawyers have now filed a motion with the criminal court to have the matter dealt with.
They say their client is now prepared to plead guilty, and the defence is submitting a joint application with the Crown to proceed directly to sentencing.
Peshdary was arrested on terrorism-related charges in February 2015, based on allegations that he recruited and financed homegrown terrorists and helped Islamic State militants travel to Syria.
His case has dragged on in court while lawyers representing him, the RCMP and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service debated what evidence was admissible and could be disclosed in the proceedings.
Accused extremist recruiter expected to plead guilty to terrorism charges
OTTAWA — An accused extremist recruiter is returning to the Ontario Superior Court on Thursday and is expected to plead guilty to terrorism offences, eight…
Feds seek 'eye for eye' from NYC bike path killer, his lawyers say
They asked the judge presiding over the death penalty phase of Sayfullo Saipov's trial to declare a mistrial
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Larry Neumeister
Published Feb 21, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 4 minute read
NEW YORK — Lawyers for a man convicted of killing eight people along a Manhattan bike path say prosecutors are seeking “eye for an eye” justice by using tearful testimony from victims and their families to convince a jury to order death.
They asked the judge presiding over the death penalty phase of Sayfullo Saipov’s trial to declare a mistrial over the issue.
“The government’s victim-impact evidence has been laden with emotional testimony, improper references to and characterizations of Mr. Saipov and his crime, and appeals to jurors’ emotions and sympathy for the victims and their plight,” the lawyers wrote.
The request came late last week as the lawyers prepared to begin presenting evidence to support their arguments against the death penalty as early as Tuesday, when the trial resumes and prosecutors complete their presentation. If any juror votes against death, Saipov will serve a life prison sentence.
Late Monday, prosecutors filed a response to the defense’s request for a mistrial, saying it was meritless and that emotional testimony by and about victims “does not approach, much less cross, the bounds of the law.”
They added: “The contested testimony did not offer opinions or characterizations of the crime, did not comment on the appropriate sentence, and did not — by any means — otherwise render the trial fundamentally unfair.”
Saipov, 35, was convicted last month of killing eight people and seriously injuring about 18 others Oct. 31, 2017, when he raced his rented truck onto a bike path in lower Manhattan along the West Side Highway. Arrested at the scene, he said he was supporting the Islamic State group.
The same jurors who heard numerous victims and family members of the dead tearfully testify before convicting Saipov have watched many others describe during the last week how their lives have been permanently altered by the terror attack. Some witnesses have testified twice.
Testimony did not occur Friday, when defense lawyers made their mistrial request, describing emotional testimony a day earlier as “the most forceful and evocative so far.”
They also made the unusual request of asking the judge to order that audio recordings of the court proceedings used solely by court stenographers to ensure transcripts are accurate and be preserved, presumably so an appeals court panel can hear the extent of the emotional testimony.
In their filing, defense lawyers cited some of Thursday’s testimony, including by Belgian witness Alexander Naessens, whose wife, Ann-Laure Decadt, was killed.
He said his children “will never have their mother, never have the most important person in their life, never.”
“And as for me, you know, my life is ruined,” Naessens said.
Defense lawyers wrote that the testimony “transcended a mere description of pain and loss and all but urged jurors to end Mr. Saipov’s life because he had ended Ms. Decadt’s and ‘ruined’ the lives of her husband and children.”
The defense lawyers also complained that prosecutors followed Naessens’ testimony by playing recorded jail phone calls between Saipov and his children in what they described as an obvious attempt to invite jurors “to exact revenge on Mr. Saipov for the sake of Ms. Decadt’s children.”
“This is nothing more than an appeal for an ‘eye for an eye’ justice that encourages the jury to ignore or disregard any mitigation and is otherwise irreconcilable with the jury’s task: To soberly weigh the evidence in aggravation to determine whether Mr. Saipov deserves the ultimate punishment,” they added.
The defense lawyers also said a mistrial might be necessary because of the emotional testimony by Lieve Wyseur, Ann-Laure Decadt’s mother.
“Having wept and sobbed through most of her testimony, in visible fits of anger at times, Ms. Wyseur’s presentation was a quintessential appeal to passion and emotion,” they wrote.
“Of course, the defense is not criticizing the witnesses for the grief and pain they feel over the loss of Ms. Decadt,” they added. “However, it is indisputable that the penalty phase of a federal capital proceeding is not the forum for victims to freely express their emotions or, in Ms. Wyseur’s case, vent their (understandable) rage and torment.”
A spokesperson for the prosecutors declined comment.
During the trial’s penalty-phase, Judge Vernon S. Broderick repeatedly urged witnesses to request a break if they believed they were about to be too emotional, and he has made rulings to disallow some audio or video recordings that he concluded might be unfairly prejudicial.
During the presentation of the defense’s case, members of Saipov’s family were expected in a courtroom that has often been filled with victims and family members of the dead.
New York does not have capital punishment and hasn’t executed anyone since 1963, but Saipov’s trial is in federal court, where a death sentence is still an option. The last time a person was executed for a federal crime in New York was in 1954.
torontosun.com
They asked the judge presiding over the death penalty phase of Sayfullo Saipov's trial to declare a mistrial
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Larry Neumeister
Published Feb 21, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 4 minute read
NEW YORK — Lawyers for a man convicted of killing eight people along a Manhattan bike path say prosecutors are seeking “eye for an eye” justice by using tearful testimony from victims and their families to convince a jury to order death.
They asked the judge presiding over the death penalty phase of Sayfullo Saipov’s trial to declare a mistrial over the issue.
“The government’s victim-impact evidence has been laden with emotional testimony, improper references to and characterizations of Mr. Saipov and his crime, and appeals to jurors’ emotions and sympathy for the victims and their plight,” the lawyers wrote.
The request came late last week as the lawyers prepared to begin presenting evidence to support their arguments against the death penalty as early as Tuesday, when the trial resumes and prosecutors complete their presentation. If any juror votes against death, Saipov will serve a life prison sentence.
Late Monday, prosecutors filed a response to the defense’s request for a mistrial, saying it was meritless and that emotional testimony by and about victims “does not approach, much less cross, the bounds of the law.”
They added: “The contested testimony did not offer opinions or characterizations of the crime, did not comment on the appropriate sentence, and did not — by any means — otherwise render the trial fundamentally unfair.”
Saipov, 35, was convicted last month of killing eight people and seriously injuring about 18 others Oct. 31, 2017, when he raced his rented truck onto a bike path in lower Manhattan along the West Side Highway. Arrested at the scene, he said he was supporting the Islamic State group.
The same jurors who heard numerous victims and family members of the dead tearfully testify before convicting Saipov have watched many others describe during the last week how their lives have been permanently altered by the terror attack. Some witnesses have testified twice.
Testimony did not occur Friday, when defense lawyers made their mistrial request, describing emotional testimony a day earlier as “the most forceful and evocative so far.”
They also made the unusual request of asking the judge to order that audio recordings of the court proceedings used solely by court stenographers to ensure transcripts are accurate and be preserved, presumably so an appeals court panel can hear the extent of the emotional testimony.
In their filing, defense lawyers cited some of Thursday’s testimony, including by Belgian witness Alexander Naessens, whose wife, Ann-Laure Decadt, was killed.
He said his children “will never have their mother, never have the most important person in their life, never.”
“And as for me, you know, my life is ruined,” Naessens said.
Defense lawyers wrote that the testimony “transcended a mere description of pain and loss and all but urged jurors to end Mr. Saipov’s life because he had ended Ms. Decadt’s and ‘ruined’ the lives of her husband and children.”
The defense lawyers also complained that prosecutors followed Naessens’ testimony by playing recorded jail phone calls between Saipov and his children in what they described as an obvious attempt to invite jurors “to exact revenge on Mr. Saipov for the sake of Ms. Decadt’s children.”
“This is nothing more than an appeal for an ‘eye for an eye’ justice that encourages the jury to ignore or disregard any mitigation and is otherwise irreconcilable with the jury’s task: To soberly weigh the evidence in aggravation to determine whether Mr. Saipov deserves the ultimate punishment,” they added.
The defense lawyers also said a mistrial might be necessary because of the emotional testimony by Lieve Wyseur, Ann-Laure Decadt’s mother.
“Having wept and sobbed through most of her testimony, in visible fits of anger at times, Ms. Wyseur’s presentation was a quintessential appeal to passion and emotion,” they wrote.
“Of course, the defense is not criticizing the witnesses for the grief and pain they feel over the loss of Ms. Decadt,” they added. “However, it is indisputable that the penalty phase of a federal capital proceeding is not the forum for victims to freely express their emotions or, in Ms. Wyseur’s case, vent their (understandable) rage and torment.”
A spokesperson for the prosecutors declined comment.
During the trial’s penalty-phase, Judge Vernon S. Broderick repeatedly urged witnesses to request a break if they believed they were about to be too emotional, and he has made rulings to disallow some audio or video recordings that he concluded might be unfairly prejudicial.
During the presentation of the defense’s case, members of Saipov’s family were expected in a courtroom that has often been filled with victims and family members of the dead.
New York does not have capital punishment and hasn’t executed anyone since 1963, but Saipov’s trial is in federal court, where a death sentence is still an option. The last time a person was executed for a federal crime in New York was in 1954.
Feds seek 'eye for eye' from NYC bike path killer, his lawyers say
Lawyers for a man convicted of killing eight people along a Manhattan bike path say prosecutors are seeking "eye for an eye" justice
U.S. Supreme Court weighs Google's liability in ISIS terror case
The case is the court's first look at Section 230 of the Communications Decency Ac
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Mark Sherman
Published Feb 21, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 2 minute read
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court is taking up its first case about a federal law that is credited with helping create the modern internet by shielding Google, Twitter, Facebook and other companies from lawsuits over content posted on their sites by others.
The justices are hearing arguments Tuesday about whether the family of an American college student killed in a terrorist attack in Paris can sue Google for helping extremists spread their message and attract new recruits.
The case is the court’s first look at Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, adopted early in the internet age, in 1996, to protect companies from being sued over information their users post online.
Lower courts have broadly interpreted the law to protect the industry, which the companies and their allies say has fueled the meteoric growth of the internet and encouraged the removal of harmful content.
But critics argue that the companies have not done nearly enough and that the law should not block lawsuits over the recommendations, generated by computer algorithms, that point viewers to more material that interests them and keeps them online longer.
Any narrowing of their immunity could have dramatic consequences that could affect every corner of the internet because websites use algorithms to sort and filter a mountain of data.
“Recommendation algorithms are what make it possible to find the needles in humanity’s largest haystack,” Google’s lawyers wrote in their main Supreme Court brief.
In response, the lawyers for the victim’s family questioned the prediction of dire consequences. “There is, on the other hand, no denying that the materials being promoted on social media sites have in fact caused serious harm,” the lawyers wrote.
The lawsuit was filed by the family of Nohemi Gonzalez, a 23-year-old senior at Cal State Long Beach who was spending a semester in Paris studying industrial design. She was killed by Islamic State group gunmen in a series of attacks that left 130 people dead in November 2015.
The Gonzalez family alleges that Google-owned YouTube aided and abetted the Islamic State group, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, by recommending its videos to viewers most likely to be interested in them, in violation of the federal Anti-Terrorism Act.
Lower courts sided with Google.
A related case, set for arguments Wednesday, involves a terrorist attack at a nightclub in Istanbul in 2017 that killed 39 people and prompted a lawsuit against Twitter, Facebook and Google.
Separate challenges to social media laws enacted by Republicans in Florida and Texas are pending before the high court, but they will not be argued before the fall and decisions probably won’t come until the first half of 2024.
torontosun.com
The case is the court's first look at Section 230 of the Communications Decency Ac
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Mark Sherman
Published Feb 21, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 2 minute read
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court is taking up its first case about a federal law that is credited with helping create the modern internet by shielding Google, Twitter, Facebook and other companies from lawsuits over content posted on their sites by others.
The justices are hearing arguments Tuesday about whether the family of an American college student killed in a terrorist attack in Paris can sue Google for helping extremists spread their message and attract new recruits.
The case is the court’s first look at Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, adopted early in the internet age, in 1996, to protect companies from being sued over information their users post online.
Lower courts have broadly interpreted the law to protect the industry, which the companies and their allies say has fueled the meteoric growth of the internet and encouraged the removal of harmful content.
But critics argue that the companies have not done nearly enough and that the law should not block lawsuits over the recommendations, generated by computer algorithms, that point viewers to more material that interests them and keeps them online longer.
Any narrowing of their immunity could have dramatic consequences that could affect every corner of the internet because websites use algorithms to sort and filter a mountain of data.
“Recommendation algorithms are what make it possible to find the needles in humanity’s largest haystack,” Google’s lawyers wrote in their main Supreme Court brief.
In response, the lawyers for the victim’s family questioned the prediction of dire consequences. “There is, on the other hand, no denying that the materials being promoted on social media sites have in fact caused serious harm,” the lawyers wrote.
The lawsuit was filed by the family of Nohemi Gonzalez, a 23-year-old senior at Cal State Long Beach who was spending a semester in Paris studying industrial design. She was killed by Islamic State group gunmen in a series of attacks that left 130 people dead in November 2015.
The Gonzalez family alleges that Google-owned YouTube aided and abetted the Islamic State group, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, by recommending its videos to viewers most likely to be interested in them, in violation of the federal Anti-Terrorism Act.
Lower courts sided with Google.
A related case, set for arguments Wednesday, involves a terrorist attack at a nightclub in Istanbul in 2017 that killed 39 people and prompted a lawsuit against Twitter, Facebook and Google.
Separate challenges to social media laws enacted by Republicans in Florida and Texas are pending before the high court, but they will not be argued before the fall and decisions probably won’t come until the first half of 2024.
U.S. Supreme Court weighs Google's liability in ISIS terror case
A federal law shields Google, Twitter, Facebook and other companies from lawsuits over content posted on their sites by others.
Accused extremist recruiter Awso Peshdary pleads guilty to terrorism-related charges
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
David Fraser
Published Feb 23, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 3 minute read
OTTAWA — An accused recruiter for the Islamic State military group has renounced his previous extremism and pleaded guilty to terrorism offences in an Ottawa courtroom.
Awso Peshdary was sentenced to 14 years, but is being credited with time served. He is expected to serve 21 months in jail followed by three years of probation with conditions.
Justice Julianne Parfett said she had “no difficulty” finding him guilty on each of the indictments, and that some of the evidence heard during the nearly five-year court case was “horrific.”
Peshdary, 33, was arrested on terrorism-related charges in February 2015, based on allegations he recruited and financed homegrown terrorists before helping them travel to Syria to join the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. His criminal trial in the Ontario Superior Court resumed after his lawyers filed a motion saying he was prepared to change his plea to guilty, and agreed with prosecutors to request a sentence of 14 years.
Peshdary, who has been in jail since his arrest, entered court Thursday afternoon with his feet shackled, wearing a black suit with a white shirt.
In a brief statement, he took responsibility for his actions.
“I understand that the full scope of my involvement in extremism has had a plethora of negative impacts, the smallest of which is that it undermined the fabric of safety, built by the general population,” he said.
“I know that I have betrayed my family’s expectation of me to become a positive, contributing member of society.”
Peshdary said he had failed the Muslim community and it was “God’s favour” that the RCMP arrested him before he continued farther down the path he was on.
He also said he denounced his previously held extremist beliefs.
“I do this with the confidence that only a person who has walked out of that path can understand,” he said. “I’m extremely thankful to have the opportunity to continue my life and I hope my experience can be a learning lesson for those who have had similar ideologies.”
His lawyer, Solomon Friedman, said Peshdary completed programs and underwent counselling while in custody. Friedman also submitted a forensic psychiatrist’s assessment detailing his rehabilitation to the court.
He said Peshdary had been groomed and misled into extreme ideologies at a young age.
“I don’t think anybody would want to be defined by their ideology that they began when they were 16 years old,” he said.
Crown lawyer Roderick Sonley said he felt the sentence was appropriate given the activity Peshdary was involved in.
“We’re not necessarily convinced that he’s been rehabilitated, because he was successful in doing what he (did) because he’s a very persuasive and educated individual,” he said.
Sonley read to court a victim impact statement written by Patricia Earle, the mother of John Maguire, who travelled to Syria in 2012 to become an Islamic militant with the help of Peshdary.
Maguire is now presumed dead.
“I understand that John played a large part in his demise, but I can’t help but wonder if we would have seen the same result if Awso Peshdary hadn’t influenced him the way that he did,” Earle’s statement read.
The court is recommending Peshdary serve the remainder of his time behind bars at a treatment centre, where he can continue to take part in programming and seek treatment.
Peshdary’s case had been stalled pending a Federal Court decision that had dragged on while his lawyers, the RCMP and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service debated what evidence could be used in the proceedings.
But Peshdary, who was 25 at the time of his arrest, is now dropping that case.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
David Fraser
Published Feb 23, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 3 minute read
OTTAWA — An accused recruiter for the Islamic State military group has renounced his previous extremism and pleaded guilty to terrorism offences in an Ottawa courtroom.
Awso Peshdary was sentenced to 14 years, but is being credited with time served. He is expected to serve 21 months in jail followed by three years of probation with conditions.
Justice Julianne Parfett said she had “no difficulty” finding him guilty on each of the indictments, and that some of the evidence heard during the nearly five-year court case was “horrific.”
Peshdary, 33, was arrested on terrorism-related charges in February 2015, based on allegations he recruited and financed homegrown terrorists before helping them travel to Syria to join the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. His criminal trial in the Ontario Superior Court resumed after his lawyers filed a motion saying he was prepared to change his plea to guilty, and agreed with prosecutors to request a sentence of 14 years.
Peshdary, who has been in jail since his arrest, entered court Thursday afternoon with his feet shackled, wearing a black suit with a white shirt.
In a brief statement, he took responsibility for his actions.
“I understand that the full scope of my involvement in extremism has had a plethora of negative impacts, the smallest of which is that it undermined the fabric of safety, built by the general population,” he said.
“I know that I have betrayed my family’s expectation of me to become a positive, contributing member of society.”
Peshdary said he had failed the Muslim community and it was “God’s favour” that the RCMP arrested him before he continued farther down the path he was on.
He also said he denounced his previously held extremist beliefs.
“I do this with the confidence that only a person who has walked out of that path can understand,” he said. “I’m extremely thankful to have the opportunity to continue my life and I hope my experience can be a learning lesson for those who have had similar ideologies.”
His lawyer, Solomon Friedman, said Peshdary completed programs and underwent counselling while in custody. Friedman also submitted a forensic psychiatrist’s assessment detailing his rehabilitation to the court.
He said Peshdary had been groomed and misled into extreme ideologies at a young age.
“I don’t think anybody would want to be defined by their ideology that they began when they were 16 years old,” he said.
Crown lawyer Roderick Sonley said he felt the sentence was appropriate given the activity Peshdary was involved in.
“We’re not necessarily convinced that he’s been rehabilitated, because he was successful in doing what he (did) because he’s a very persuasive and educated individual,” he said.
Sonley read to court a victim impact statement written by Patricia Earle, the mother of John Maguire, who travelled to Syria in 2012 to become an Islamic militant with the help of Peshdary.
Maguire is now presumed dead.
“I understand that John played a large part in his demise, but I can’t help but wonder if we would have seen the same result if Awso Peshdary hadn’t influenced him the way that he did,” Earle’s statement read.
The court is recommending Peshdary serve the remainder of his time behind bars at a treatment centre, where he can continue to take part in programming and seek treatment.
Peshdary’s case had been stalled pending a Federal Court decision that had dragged on while his lawyers, the RCMP and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service debated what evidence could be used in the proceedings.
But Peshdary, who was 25 at the time of his arrest, is now dropping that case.
Accused extremist recruiter Awso Peshdary pleads guilty to terrorism-related charges
An accused recruiter for Islamic State has renounced his previous extremism and pleaded guilty to terrorism offences in an Ottawa courtroom.
Jury mulls death penalty or life for man in NYC bike path attack
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Larry Neumeister
Published Mar 08, 2023 • 2 minute read
NEW YORK — A New York jury began deliberating Wednesday whether to impose the death penalty or grant life in prison to a man convicted of killing eight individuals on a Manhattan bike path five years ago in a terrorist attack.
The same jury of 12 that convicted Sayfullo Saipov in late January in the Halloween 2017 rampage began considering his fate after U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick read them the legal rules they must follow to reach a decision. After about 2 1/2 hours of deliberations, jurors were sent home and told to return Thursday.
They had deliberated only 10 minutes Wednesday when the jury foreperson sent a note to the judge asking whether the panel can discuss that lethal injection is the current U.S. death penalty method and that there’s currently a moratorium on federal executions.
Broderick told jurors that neither subject was proper for discussion during deliberations and told them not to consider either issue.
Jurors will have to agree unanimously that Saipov should be put to death or the 35-year-old former Paterson, New Jersey, resident will spend the rest of his life in a high-security prison.
Lawyers for Saipov, a Uzbekistan citizen, never contested that he killed eight people by speeding a rented truck across a bike path in lower Manhattan that is popular with tourists. Killed were a woman visiting from Belgium with her family, five friends from Argentina and two Americans. Eighteen others were seriously injured.
Saipov’s attorneys asked jurors to spare him the death penalty, noting how several members of his family including his father and sisters expressed hope that someday he would realize how wrong he was to carry out a terrorist attack hoping to win favour with the Islamic State group.
And they emphasized that he would spend the rest of his life in seclusion, likely confined to a small cell for at least 22 hours a day with two 15-minute phone calls allowed each month to his family and a few showers permitted each week.
Prosecutors urged death, saying Saipov never showed compassion for any of his victims as he sought to kill as many people as he could, even confessing that he had hoped to go to the Brooklyn Bridge after the bike path assault so he could kill more people there.
Afterward, they said, he smiled proudly as he told FBI agents about his attack, even requesting that they hang the flag of the Islamic State organization in his hospital room, where he was recovering from a gunshot wound after a police officer ended his attack.
A day after the attack, then-President Donald Trump tweeted that Saipov “SHOULD GET DEATH PENALTY!”
President Joe Biden subsequently imposed a moratorium on executions for federal crimes, but his attorney general, Merrick Garland, has allowed U.S. prosecutors to continue advocating for capital punishment in cases inherited from previous administrations.
A federal jury in New York has not rendered a death sentence that has withstood legal appeals in decades, with the last execution in 1954. New York state, which no longer has the death penalty, has not executed anyone since 1963.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Larry Neumeister
Published Mar 08, 2023 • 2 minute read
NEW YORK — A New York jury began deliberating Wednesday whether to impose the death penalty or grant life in prison to a man convicted of killing eight individuals on a Manhattan bike path five years ago in a terrorist attack.
The same jury of 12 that convicted Sayfullo Saipov in late January in the Halloween 2017 rampage began considering his fate after U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick read them the legal rules they must follow to reach a decision. After about 2 1/2 hours of deliberations, jurors were sent home and told to return Thursday.
They had deliberated only 10 minutes Wednesday when the jury foreperson sent a note to the judge asking whether the panel can discuss that lethal injection is the current U.S. death penalty method and that there’s currently a moratorium on federal executions.
Broderick told jurors that neither subject was proper for discussion during deliberations and told them not to consider either issue.
Jurors will have to agree unanimously that Saipov should be put to death or the 35-year-old former Paterson, New Jersey, resident will spend the rest of his life in a high-security prison.
Lawyers for Saipov, a Uzbekistan citizen, never contested that he killed eight people by speeding a rented truck across a bike path in lower Manhattan that is popular with tourists. Killed were a woman visiting from Belgium with her family, five friends from Argentina and two Americans. Eighteen others were seriously injured.
Saipov’s attorneys asked jurors to spare him the death penalty, noting how several members of his family including his father and sisters expressed hope that someday he would realize how wrong he was to carry out a terrorist attack hoping to win favour with the Islamic State group.
And they emphasized that he would spend the rest of his life in seclusion, likely confined to a small cell for at least 22 hours a day with two 15-minute phone calls allowed each month to his family and a few showers permitted each week.
Prosecutors urged death, saying Saipov never showed compassion for any of his victims as he sought to kill as many people as he could, even confessing that he had hoped to go to the Brooklyn Bridge after the bike path assault so he could kill more people there.
Afterward, they said, he smiled proudly as he told FBI agents about his attack, even requesting that they hang the flag of the Islamic State organization in his hospital room, where he was recovering from a gunshot wound after a police officer ended his attack.
A day after the attack, then-President Donald Trump tweeted that Saipov “SHOULD GET DEATH PENALTY!”
President Joe Biden subsequently imposed a moratorium on executions for federal crimes, but his attorney general, Merrick Garland, has allowed U.S. prosecutors to continue advocating for capital punishment in cases inherited from previous administrations.
A federal jury in New York has not rendered a death sentence that has withstood legal appeals in decades, with the last execution in 1954. New York state, which no longer has the death penalty, has not executed anyone since 1963.
Jury mulls death penalty or life for man in NYC bike path attack
A jury began deliberating whether to impose the death penalty or grant life in prison to man convicted of killing 8 on Manhattan bike path.
Al-Qaida suspect transferred from U.S. prison to Saudi Arabia
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Ellen Knickmeyer
Published Mar 08, 2023 • 2 minute read
WASHINGTON — U.S. military officials said Wednesday they had returned a suspected al-Qaida operative long held at the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to his home country, Saudi Arabia.
Ghassan al Sharbi’s transfer was the latest aimed at emptying the Guantanamo military prison of those detainees who are no longer facing possible prosecution or who have finished their sentences following the U.S. military’s global roundup of extremist suspects after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
U.S. officials over the years depicted al Sharbi as a loyal al-Qaida supporter and collaborator. Al Sharbi featured in a now famous memo by a Phoenix FBI agent – little heeded at the time – who correctly warned months before the 9/11 attacks that Middle Eastern students appeared to be taking flying lessons for the purpose of attacks involving civil aviation.
The U.S. says al Sharbi fled to Pakistan after the Sept. 11 attacks for training in bomb-making. He was arrested there the next year, allegedly tortured in custody, and sent to Guantanamo.
U.S. military efforts to convict al Sharbi were frustrated as court rulings and congressional directives evolved in the face of challenges to the military tribunal’s legal authority to try the Guantanamo detainees.
A review board last year found that al Sharbi was no longer enough of a threat to the U.S. to be held in military detention. It recommended he be transferred out of Guantanamo subject to “a comprehensive set of security measures including monitoring, travel restrictions and continued information sharing.”
Saudi Arabia – the country from which most of the 9/11 hijackers came – long has had facilities for detaining and rehabilitating extremists.
Al Sharbi becomes at least the fourth Guantanamo detainee released and sent to another country so far this year. Guantanamo held about 600 prisoners at its peak in 2003. With al Sharbi’s transfer, it holds 31, including 17 others considered eligible for transfer if a stable country can be found to accept them.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Ellen Knickmeyer
Published Mar 08, 2023 • 2 minute read
WASHINGTON — U.S. military officials said Wednesday they had returned a suspected al-Qaida operative long held at the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to his home country, Saudi Arabia.
Ghassan al Sharbi’s transfer was the latest aimed at emptying the Guantanamo military prison of those detainees who are no longer facing possible prosecution or who have finished their sentences following the U.S. military’s global roundup of extremist suspects after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
U.S. officials over the years depicted al Sharbi as a loyal al-Qaida supporter and collaborator. Al Sharbi featured in a now famous memo by a Phoenix FBI agent – little heeded at the time – who correctly warned months before the 9/11 attacks that Middle Eastern students appeared to be taking flying lessons for the purpose of attacks involving civil aviation.
The U.S. says al Sharbi fled to Pakistan after the Sept. 11 attacks for training in bomb-making. He was arrested there the next year, allegedly tortured in custody, and sent to Guantanamo.
U.S. military efforts to convict al Sharbi were frustrated as court rulings and congressional directives evolved in the face of challenges to the military tribunal’s legal authority to try the Guantanamo detainees.
A review board last year found that al Sharbi was no longer enough of a threat to the U.S. to be held in military detention. It recommended he be transferred out of Guantanamo subject to “a comprehensive set of security measures including monitoring, travel restrictions and continued information sharing.”
Saudi Arabia – the country from which most of the 9/11 hijackers came – long has had facilities for detaining and rehabilitating extremists.
Al Sharbi becomes at least the fourth Guantanamo detainee released and sent to another country so far this year. Guantanamo held about 600 prisoners at its peak in 2003. With al Sharbi’s transfer, it holds 31, including 17 others considered eligible for transfer if a stable country can be found to accept them.
Al-Qaida suspect transferred from U.S. prison to Saudi Arabia
WASHINGTON — U.S. military officials said Wednesday they had returned a suspected al-Qaida operative long held at the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,…
New York bike path attacker spared death penalty after jury deadlocks
Saipov is expected to be housed at Colorado's Supermax facility, the most secure U.S. federal prison.
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Luc Cohen
Published Mar 14, 2023 • Last updated 2 days ago • 2 minute read
NEW YORK — Sayfullo Saipov, the man convicted of killing eight people in an attack on a Manhattan bike path in 2017, was spared the death penalty on Monday after a federal jury deadlocked on whether he should be executed.
As a result, Saipov will be sentenced to life in prison without parole. A unanimous decision had been required under federal law for a death sentence, which prosecutors had sought.
Saipov is expected to be housed at Colorado’s Supermax facility, the most secure U.S. federal prison.
The 35-year-old Uzbek national had been convicted in January of murder with a goal of joining Islamic State, or ISIS, a group the United States designates a “terrorist” organization. His jury was reconvened to consider Saipov’s punishment.
Saipov’s case is the first federal death penalty trial since President Joe Biden, a Democrat, took office in 2021 after pledging during his campaign to abolish capital punishment.
“In the end, Saipov’s actions have highlighted one of the pillars of the rule of law in this country: the right to a full and fair public trial,” Damian Williams, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, said in a statement after the verdict.
Saipov’s lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
During the trial’s penalty phase, jurors heard from survivors of the attack who testified about their ongoing suffering, and jail officers who described Saipov’s outbursts and threats since his arrest.
“The defendant is still committed to jihad and ISIS and violence,” prosecutor Amanda Houle said in her closing argument on March 7.
In its verdict form, read aloud by U.S. District Judge Vernon Broderick, the 12-person jury said it could not unanimously agree whether Saipov was likely to commit criminal acts of violence in prison.
Jurors agreed that other aggravating factors weighed in favor of the death penalty, including that Saipov planned his attack in advance and carried it out to support Islamic State.
They also agreed on several mitigating factors, including that many of Saipov’s family members still loved him, and that a life sentence might give him time to realize what he did was wrong.
After the verdict was read, Saipov shook hands with David Patton, the federal public defender who represented him, before being led out of the courtroom by officers.
Patton said in his closing argument that the death penalty was “not necessary to do justice.”
He said Saipov would spend 22 or 23 hours a day alone in a cell with a concrete bed if sentenced to life in prison.
“We can’t rewind the clock and make it so that this senseless crime never happened,” Patton said. “We’re asking you to decide that the right decision is life.”
Prosecutors sought the death penalty despite U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland’s July 2021 moratorium on federal executions so the Department of Justice could review its use of the punishment.
Federal executions had resumed in 2020 under President Donald Trump, a Republican, after a 17-year hiatus. Thirteen were carried out before Trump left office in 2021.
torontosun.com
Saipov is expected to be housed at Colorado's Supermax facility, the most secure U.S. federal prison.
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Luc Cohen
Published Mar 14, 2023 • Last updated 2 days ago • 2 minute read
NEW YORK — Sayfullo Saipov, the man convicted of killing eight people in an attack on a Manhattan bike path in 2017, was spared the death penalty on Monday after a federal jury deadlocked on whether he should be executed.
As a result, Saipov will be sentenced to life in prison without parole. A unanimous decision had been required under federal law for a death sentence, which prosecutors had sought.
Saipov is expected to be housed at Colorado’s Supermax facility, the most secure U.S. federal prison.
The 35-year-old Uzbek national had been convicted in January of murder with a goal of joining Islamic State, or ISIS, a group the United States designates a “terrorist” organization. His jury was reconvened to consider Saipov’s punishment.
Saipov’s case is the first federal death penalty trial since President Joe Biden, a Democrat, took office in 2021 after pledging during his campaign to abolish capital punishment.
“In the end, Saipov’s actions have highlighted one of the pillars of the rule of law in this country: the right to a full and fair public trial,” Damian Williams, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, said in a statement after the verdict.
Saipov’s lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
During the trial’s penalty phase, jurors heard from survivors of the attack who testified about their ongoing suffering, and jail officers who described Saipov’s outbursts and threats since his arrest.
“The defendant is still committed to jihad and ISIS and violence,” prosecutor Amanda Houle said in her closing argument on March 7.
In its verdict form, read aloud by U.S. District Judge Vernon Broderick, the 12-person jury said it could not unanimously agree whether Saipov was likely to commit criminal acts of violence in prison.
Jurors agreed that other aggravating factors weighed in favor of the death penalty, including that Saipov planned his attack in advance and carried it out to support Islamic State.
They also agreed on several mitigating factors, including that many of Saipov’s family members still loved him, and that a life sentence might give him time to realize what he did was wrong.
After the verdict was read, Saipov shook hands with David Patton, the federal public defender who represented him, before being led out of the courtroom by officers.
Patton said in his closing argument that the death penalty was “not necessary to do justice.”
He said Saipov would spend 22 or 23 hours a day alone in a cell with a concrete bed if sentenced to life in prison.
“We can’t rewind the clock and make it so that this senseless crime never happened,” Patton said. “We’re asking you to decide that the right decision is life.”
Prosecutors sought the death penalty despite U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland’s July 2021 moratorium on federal executions so the Department of Justice could review its use of the punishment.
Federal executions had resumed in 2020 under President Donald Trump, a Republican, after a 17-year hiatus. Thirteen were carried out before Trump left office in 2021.
New York bike path attacker spared death penalty after jury deadlocks
Saipov is expected to be housed at Colorado's Supermax facility, the most secure U.S. federal prison.
RCMP arrest 18-year-old in Montreal on 'allegations of terrorism' after FBI tip
The arrest of Mohamed Amine Assal was announced Thursday
Author of the article
aul Cherry • Montreal Gazette
Published Mar 23, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 4 minute read
The RCMP announced Thursday that they arrested an 18-year-old St-Laurent resident based on information from the FBI alleging he was involved in terrorism.
“Based on intelligence from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, this morning RCMP officers arrested Mohamed Amine Assal, 18, of (the St-Laurent borough). This police operation was aimed at disrupting the suspicious activities of Mr. Assal and ensuring he undertakes to keep the peace pursuant to (a peace bond),” the RCMP said in a statement.
“Following a short investigation by the Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (INSET), the RCMP had reasonable grounds to fear that an individual may commit a terrorism offence. The investigation is ongoing and all evidence will be analyzed. Charges may be laid at a later date.”
Assal appeared before Quebec Court Judge Alexandre Dalmau Thursday afternoon. Through his defence lawyer, Michael Morena, he agreed to follow a series of conditions in order to be released while he awaits a hearing to determine if he agrees to the peace bond.
Assal agreed to respect a curfew that requires him to be home between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. He is also not allowed to associate with people who have a criminal record or cases pending.
The prosecutor who listed the conditions said Assal is not allowed to “participate in terrorist activities” as defined in the Criminal Code of Canada. He is also not allowed to possess weapons or use the internet except for school and cannot access websites tied to terrorism.
When the judge asked Assal if he understood the conditions, he only asked that the hours of his curfew be repeated.
Dalmau agreed to set the next date in the case for May 4.
The home where Assal resides in St-Laurent was being searched by RCMP investigators on Thursday.
A document filed in the case, requesting that Assal sign the peace bond, is based on “the grounds stated in (an) affidavit.” An RCMP investigator alleges they “have reason to fear that Assal will commit an offence of terrorism.”
According to information obtained by the Montreal Gazette, the investigation began on March 14, based on information from the FBI that a user of Telegram Messenger, a free and open source app, was “discussing violent acts of terrorism motivated by radical Islamist ideology.”
The FBI learned that a person with the username @abujoe000 was connecting to IP addresses at CEGEP Édouard-Montpetit and at an address that turned out to be the home of Assal’s family in St-Laurent.
The school confirmed to the RCMP that Assal was a student there and that he is studying aircraft maintenance.
The day after the investigation began, the RCMP obtained a warrant allowing investigators to place Assal under surveillance. He was suspected of facilitating and counselling terrorist acts.
The FBI had a source who claimed an ISIS supporter based in Italy associated with a person behind the username Assal is alleged to have used on Telegram Messenger. The source alleged that the ISIS supporter in Italy was radicalized at the same time as the person behind the @abujoe000 username.
The source also said the ISIS supporter in Italy had convinced six people, including the person behind the @abujoe000 username, to “conduct attacks.”
The same source alleged the person was secretly recruiting people to join ISIS.
As the investigation progressed, the RCMP learned that the person behind the @abujoe000 username had an exchange with another person on Telegram Messenger on Feb. 28 during which they appeared to discuss how to make a pipe bomb.
“Is black powder enough to be explosive on its own or do I need to add more materials,” the other person asked through the app.
“I’ll go check,” @abujoe000 replied.
“BTW FBI we’re talking about firecrackwrs (sic) which r legal,” the other person wrote, apparently assuming the FBI was monitoring the conversation.
The person behind the @abujoe000 username then recommended taping nails to the outside of a pipe bomb to allow debris to scatter more when it is detonated.
When @abujoe000 suggested he and the other person “hop an a call,” the latter replied that he was “not in a call safe area, so to speak.”
Police emerged just after 2:30 p.m. Thursday from Assal’s house on Bourgoin St., in a residential neighbourhood of neat duplexes, carrying computers wrapped in plastic bags. They had spent several hours inside the house Thursday afternoon.
Neighbours on the street said they did not know the family, as they had just moved in in February.
Residents who lived next door to the Assal family’s previous home on Alexis-Nihon Blvd. in the same borough described them as friendly and quiet. The father was Moroccan and worked for a coffee company, they said.
“They even took out our garbage and shovelled our walkway,” said an elderly neighbour. “They were very nice. Never any problems.”
René Bruemmer of the Montreal Gazette contributed to this report.
pcherry@postmedia.com
torontosun.com
The arrest of Mohamed Amine Assal was announced Thursday
Author of the article
aul Cherry • Montreal GazettePublished Mar 23, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 4 minute read
The RCMP announced Thursday that they arrested an 18-year-old St-Laurent resident based on information from the FBI alleging he was involved in terrorism.
“Based on intelligence from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, this morning RCMP officers arrested Mohamed Amine Assal, 18, of (the St-Laurent borough). This police operation was aimed at disrupting the suspicious activities of Mr. Assal and ensuring he undertakes to keep the peace pursuant to (a peace bond),” the RCMP said in a statement.
“Following a short investigation by the Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (INSET), the RCMP had reasonable grounds to fear that an individual may commit a terrorism offence. The investigation is ongoing and all evidence will be analyzed. Charges may be laid at a later date.”
Assal appeared before Quebec Court Judge Alexandre Dalmau Thursday afternoon. Through his defence lawyer, Michael Morena, he agreed to follow a series of conditions in order to be released while he awaits a hearing to determine if he agrees to the peace bond.
Assal agreed to respect a curfew that requires him to be home between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. He is also not allowed to associate with people who have a criminal record or cases pending.
The prosecutor who listed the conditions said Assal is not allowed to “participate in terrorist activities” as defined in the Criminal Code of Canada. He is also not allowed to possess weapons or use the internet except for school and cannot access websites tied to terrorism.
When the judge asked Assal if he understood the conditions, he only asked that the hours of his curfew be repeated.
Dalmau agreed to set the next date in the case for May 4.
The home where Assal resides in St-Laurent was being searched by RCMP investigators on Thursday.
A document filed in the case, requesting that Assal sign the peace bond, is based on “the grounds stated in (an) affidavit.” An RCMP investigator alleges they “have reason to fear that Assal will commit an offence of terrorism.”
According to information obtained by the Montreal Gazette, the investigation began on March 14, based on information from the FBI that a user of Telegram Messenger, a free and open source app, was “discussing violent acts of terrorism motivated by radical Islamist ideology.”
The FBI learned that a person with the username @abujoe000 was connecting to IP addresses at CEGEP Édouard-Montpetit and at an address that turned out to be the home of Assal’s family in St-Laurent.
The school confirmed to the RCMP that Assal was a student there and that he is studying aircraft maintenance.
The day after the investigation began, the RCMP obtained a warrant allowing investigators to place Assal under surveillance. He was suspected of facilitating and counselling terrorist acts.
The FBI had a source who claimed an ISIS supporter based in Italy associated with a person behind the username Assal is alleged to have used on Telegram Messenger. The source alleged that the ISIS supporter in Italy was radicalized at the same time as the person behind the @abujoe000 username.
The source also said the ISIS supporter in Italy had convinced six people, including the person behind the @abujoe000 username, to “conduct attacks.”
The same source alleged the person was secretly recruiting people to join ISIS.
As the investigation progressed, the RCMP learned that the person behind the @abujoe000 username had an exchange with another person on Telegram Messenger on Feb. 28 during which they appeared to discuss how to make a pipe bomb.
“Is black powder enough to be explosive on its own or do I need to add more materials,” the other person asked through the app.
“I’ll go check,” @abujoe000 replied.
“BTW FBI we’re talking about firecrackwrs (sic) which r legal,” the other person wrote, apparently assuming the FBI was monitoring the conversation.
The person behind the @abujoe000 username then recommended taping nails to the outside of a pipe bomb to allow debris to scatter more when it is detonated.
When @abujoe000 suggested he and the other person “hop an a call,” the latter replied that he was “not in a call safe area, so to speak.”
Police emerged just after 2:30 p.m. Thursday from Assal’s house on Bourgoin St., in a residential neighbourhood of neat duplexes, carrying computers wrapped in plastic bags. They had spent several hours inside the house Thursday afternoon.
Neighbours on the street said they did not know the family, as they had just moved in in February.
Residents who lived next door to the Assal family’s previous home on Alexis-Nihon Blvd. in the same borough described them as friendly and quiet. The father was Moroccan and worked for a coffee company, they said.
“They even took out our garbage and shovelled our walkway,” said an elderly neighbour. “They were very nice. Never any problems.”
René Bruemmer of the Montreal Gazette contributed to this report.
pcherry@postmedia.com
RCMP arrest St-Laurent teenager on allegations of terrorism
Mohamed Amine Assal, 18, was arrested based on information received from the FBI.
Massachusetts teen accused of providing gift cards to support terrorist group
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Associated Press
Published Jun 08, 2023 • 1 minute read
BOSTON — An 18-year-old Massachusetts man sent gift cards worth a total of $1,670 to someone he thought was a supporter of the Islamic State group that he intended to be used to fund a war on nonbelievers, federal prosecutors said Thursday.
Mateo Ventura, of Wakefield, is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Worcester later Thursday on a charge of knowingly concealing the source of material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization, the U.S. attorney’s office in Boston said in a statement.
An email seeking comment was left with Ventura’s federal public defender.
Ventura wanted the gift cards to be sold on the dark web for slightly less than face value with the resulting proceeds to be used to support the Islamic State group, prosecutors said.
Between August 2020 and August 2021, Ventura provided about 25 cards with a total face value of $965 to someone he thought was an Islamic State group sympathizer but was actually an undercover FBI agent, according to an FBI affidavit included in court documents. Ventura was still a juvenile at the time.
He provided another $705 in gift cards after turning 18 between January and May, authorities said.
The cards ranged in value from $10 to $100.
Ventura, using an online encrypted messaging application, also expressed a desire to travel overseas and fight with the Islamic State group, according to the affidavit. He even went so far as to buy an airline ticket to Cairo in April, but he never departed and he did not reschedule or cancel his flight, the affidavit says.
Ventura also pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State caliphate and offered to disclose information about future terror attacks to the FBI in exchange for $10 million, according to the affidavit.
If convicted, Ventura faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Associated Press
Published Jun 08, 2023 • 1 minute read
BOSTON — An 18-year-old Massachusetts man sent gift cards worth a total of $1,670 to someone he thought was a supporter of the Islamic State group that he intended to be used to fund a war on nonbelievers, federal prosecutors said Thursday.
Mateo Ventura, of Wakefield, is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Worcester later Thursday on a charge of knowingly concealing the source of material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization, the U.S. attorney’s office in Boston said in a statement.
An email seeking comment was left with Ventura’s federal public defender.
Ventura wanted the gift cards to be sold on the dark web for slightly less than face value with the resulting proceeds to be used to support the Islamic State group, prosecutors said.
Between August 2020 and August 2021, Ventura provided about 25 cards with a total face value of $965 to someone he thought was an Islamic State group sympathizer but was actually an undercover FBI agent, according to an FBI affidavit included in court documents. Ventura was still a juvenile at the time.
He provided another $705 in gift cards after turning 18 between January and May, authorities said.
The cards ranged in value from $10 to $100.
Ventura, using an online encrypted messaging application, also expressed a desire to travel overseas and fight with the Islamic State group, according to the affidavit. He even went so far as to buy an airline ticket to Cairo in April, but he never departed and he did not reschedule or cancel his flight, the affidavit says.
Ventura also pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State caliphate and offered to disclose information about future terror attacks to the FBI in exchange for $10 million, according to the affidavit.
If convicted, Ventura faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Massachusetts teen accused of providing gift cards to support terrorist group
An 18-year-old Massachusetts man sent gift cards worth a total of $1,670 to someone he thought was a supporter of the Islamic State group
German ISIS member gets 9 years after helping husband enslave woman he raped
Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Victoria Bisset, The Washington Post
Published Jun 21, 2023 • 3 minute read
A German court on Wednesday convicted a member of the Islamic State group of crimes against humanity for enslaving a 21-year-old woman from a religious minority group and sentenced her to nine years and three months in prison.
The Koblenz Higher Regional Court found the 37-year-old woman — identified only as Nadine K. in accordance with German privacy laws — guilty of using weapons of war, crimes against humanity, aiding and abetting genocide and sexual violence, and human trafficking.
After the Islamic State overran the traditional homeland of the Yazidi religious minority in northern Iraq in 2014, the men were slain and thousands of women and children were enslaved and forced to serve the radical Islamic group. The court found Nadine K. complicit in her husband’s enslavement of the young woman, whom he received as a “gift.”
The court did not name the victim, but the woman was interviewed by Sky News and was identified as Naveen Rasho. “We saw everything from beating to fear.”
“It is true that she tortured me alone, but as a Yazidi girl when she violated me, she violated all the Yazidis,” she said. “They felt the pain when I was in prison. It is important for all the Yazidis for a Daesh [IS fighter] to be placed in prison.”
According to the court’s verdict, Nadine K. married her husband, a Syrian national, in Germany in July 2013 and converted to Islam. Her husband returned to Syria to work as a doctor and she followed him in December 2014. Both individuals willingly went to join the Islamic State group, the court said.
They later moved to Mosul, in Iraq — and in April 2016, Nadine’s husband brought the enslaved Yazidi woman to live with the family. Since her abduction by the Islamic State in 2014, she had been forced into domestic and sexual slavery. Slaves were often sold or transferred from one owner to another.
During this time, “the man regularly raped and beat the woman, which Nadine K. knew,” prosecutors argued. The judge agreed and found she had in fact enabled and encouraged the sexual abuse. “She could and should have done something,” German broadcaster Südwestrundfunk quoted the judge as saying.
The family only released the woman when they tried to escape from the Islamic State’s last stronghold of Baghouz, an eastern Syrian village, in March 2019, according to the court statement. Kurdish forces detained the family, though the father’s whereabouts are now unknown. Nadine K. was arrested upon her return to Germany in March 2022.
Rasho was able to return to her family in 2019 — almost five years after she was first imprisoned by the Islamic State group. The court found that she “is still suffering considerably from the consequences of the crimes committed against her.”
Prominent human rights attorney Amal Clooney, who represented the victim, hailed the verdict — the third conviction of its kind.
“We have reached these milestones because of the bravery of survivors, like my client, who were raped and enslaved by ISIS but were determined to face their abusers in the dock,” she said in a statement.
“In this trial my client stared down the ISIS member who enslaved her for three years. And today, she won.”
In November 2021, a court found an Iraqi citizen guilty of genocide and war crimes for the killing of a five-year-old Yazidi girl at his home and sentenced him to life in prison. His wife was sentenced to 10 years in prison over the killing in a separate trial.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Victoria Bisset, The Washington Post
Published Jun 21, 2023 • 3 minute read
A German court on Wednesday convicted a member of the Islamic State group of crimes against humanity for enslaving a 21-year-old woman from a religious minority group and sentenced her to nine years and three months in prison.
The Koblenz Higher Regional Court found the 37-year-old woman — identified only as Nadine K. in accordance with German privacy laws — guilty of using weapons of war, crimes against humanity, aiding and abetting genocide and sexual violence, and human trafficking.
After the Islamic State overran the traditional homeland of the Yazidi religious minority in northern Iraq in 2014, the men were slain and thousands of women and children were enslaved and forced to serve the radical Islamic group. The court found Nadine K. complicit in her husband’s enslavement of the young woman, whom he received as a “gift.”
The court did not name the victim, but the woman was interviewed by Sky News and was identified as Naveen Rasho. “We saw everything from beating to fear.”
“It is true that she tortured me alone, but as a Yazidi girl when she violated me, she violated all the Yazidis,” she said. “They felt the pain when I was in prison. It is important for all the Yazidis for a Daesh [IS fighter] to be placed in prison.”
According to the court’s verdict, Nadine K. married her husband, a Syrian national, in Germany in July 2013 and converted to Islam. Her husband returned to Syria to work as a doctor and she followed him in December 2014. Both individuals willingly went to join the Islamic State group, the court said.
They later moved to Mosul, in Iraq — and in April 2016, Nadine’s husband brought the enslaved Yazidi woman to live with the family. Since her abduction by the Islamic State in 2014, she had been forced into domestic and sexual slavery. Slaves were often sold or transferred from one owner to another.
During this time, “the man regularly raped and beat the woman, which Nadine K. knew,” prosecutors argued. The judge agreed and found she had in fact enabled and encouraged the sexual abuse. “She could and should have done something,” German broadcaster Südwestrundfunk quoted the judge as saying.
The family only released the woman when they tried to escape from the Islamic State’s last stronghold of Baghouz, an eastern Syrian village, in March 2019, according to the court statement. Kurdish forces detained the family, though the father’s whereabouts are now unknown. Nadine K. was arrested upon her return to Germany in March 2022.
Rasho was able to return to her family in 2019 — almost five years after she was first imprisoned by the Islamic State group. The court found that she “is still suffering considerably from the consequences of the crimes committed against her.”
Prominent human rights attorney Amal Clooney, who represented the victim, hailed the verdict — the third conviction of its kind.
“We have reached these milestones because of the bravery of survivors, like my client, who were raped and enslaved by ISIS but were determined to face their abusers in the dock,” she said in a statement.
“In this trial my client stared down the ISIS member who enslaved her for three years. And today, she won.”
In November 2021, a court found an Iraqi citizen guilty of genocide and war crimes for the killing of a five-year-old Yazidi girl at his home and sentenced him to life in prison. His wife was sentenced to 10 years in prison over the killing in a separate trial.
German ISIS member gets 9 years after helping husband enslave woman he raped
A German court on Wednesday convicted a member of the Islamic State group of crimes against humanity.
Mom of Colorado teen accused of trying to join Islamic State blames FBI
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Colleen Slevin
Published Jul 20, 2023 • 2 minute read
DENVER — The mother of an 18-year-old who is accused of trying to become a fighter for the Islamic State group says her son has never had the motivation to follow through with things.
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Article content
Deanna Meyer testified Thursday that she does not think her son, Devin Meyer, would have taken action to travel to the Middle East were it not for the support of people he recently met who shared his views. That included FBI informants posing as Islamic State facilitators.
“I bet my life he would never do that without that encouragement,” Deanna Meyer said in federal court in an unsuccessful attempt to convince a judge to allow her son to stay with her while he is being prosecuted. He was arrested Friday as he tried to board a plane to Turkey and has been charged with attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.
Deanna Meyer was responding to a question from Magistrate Judge N. Reid Neureiter about whether her son, who has autism, understood the gravity of the situation, given his condition.
She reached out to law enforcement last year about Devin when he was 17 because she was concerned about the escalation of his “radical Islamic beliefs” and openly expressing violent intentions, according to court documents. The FBI was later notified, it said.
While authorities said Devin Meyer had threatened to kill his mother, she told Magistrate Judge N. Reid Neureiter that he had stopped making threats in September, about two months before he turned 18.
Partly because of the previous threats, Neureiter said he could not allow him to live with her, ordering him instead to remain in custody.
“It’s not a risk I’m prepared to take,” Neureiter said.
Soon after Meyer turned 18, he began communicating online with the first paid informant, whom he believed was an Islamic State facilitator, his arrest affidavit said. Later that informant introduced Meyer to a second informant, who presented themselves as an ISIS travel facilitator, it said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa Hindman argued that Devin Meyer was committed to radical Islam by the time he started talking to them and was determined to become a fighter for the Islamic State. She said he had done his own research on his plan and kept up with news about the Islamic State, including knowing when one leader of the group was killed and knowing that he needed to then declare his allegiance to the new leader. While expressing some anxiety about going ahead with his plan, he did anyway, she said.
“He tried to board the plane thinking ISIS would be greeting him with open arms on the other end,” Hindman said.
She said Meyer also communicated with others besides the informants — a man in the United Kingdom who supports ISIS who had been previously convicted and sentenced and then recently rearrested for supporting terrorism but did not identify him.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment on his identity.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Colleen Slevin
Published Jul 20, 2023 • 2 minute read
DENVER — The mother of an 18-year-old who is accused of trying to become a fighter for the Islamic State group says her son has never had the motivation to follow through with things.
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Deanna Meyer testified Thursday that she does not think her son, Devin Meyer, would have taken action to travel to the Middle East were it not for the support of people he recently met who shared his views. That included FBI informants posing as Islamic State facilitators.
“I bet my life he would never do that without that encouragement,” Deanna Meyer said in federal court in an unsuccessful attempt to convince a judge to allow her son to stay with her while he is being prosecuted. He was arrested Friday as he tried to board a plane to Turkey and has been charged with attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.
Deanna Meyer was responding to a question from Magistrate Judge N. Reid Neureiter about whether her son, who has autism, understood the gravity of the situation, given his condition.
She reached out to law enforcement last year about Devin when he was 17 because she was concerned about the escalation of his “radical Islamic beliefs” and openly expressing violent intentions, according to court documents. The FBI was later notified, it said.
While authorities said Devin Meyer had threatened to kill his mother, she told Magistrate Judge N. Reid Neureiter that he had stopped making threats in September, about two months before he turned 18.
Partly because of the previous threats, Neureiter said he could not allow him to live with her, ordering him instead to remain in custody.
“It’s not a risk I’m prepared to take,” Neureiter said.
Soon after Meyer turned 18, he began communicating online with the first paid informant, whom he believed was an Islamic State facilitator, his arrest affidavit said. Later that informant introduced Meyer to a second informant, who presented themselves as an ISIS travel facilitator, it said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa Hindman argued that Devin Meyer was committed to radical Islam by the time he started talking to them and was determined to become a fighter for the Islamic State. She said he had done his own research on his plan and kept up with news about the Islamic State, including knowing when one leader of the group was killed and knowing that he needed to then declare his allegiance to the new leader. While expressing some anxiety about going ahead with his plan, he did anyway, she said.
“He tried to board the plane thinking ISIS would be greeting him with open arms on the other end,” Hindman said.
She said Meyer also communicated with others besides the informants — a man in the United Kingdom who supports ISIS who had been previously convicted and sentenced and then recently rearrested for supporting terrorism but did not identify him.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment on his identity.
Mom of Colorado teen accused of trying to join Islamic State blames FBI
Mother of an 18-year-old who is accused of trying to become a fighter for the Islamic State group says her son has never had the motivation
Woman who was returned to Canada from Syria prison camp faces terrorism charge
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Published Oct 06, 2023 • 1 minute read
A 29-year-old woman who was among a group of women and children returned to Canada in April after years in a Syrian prison camp has been charged with a terrorism-related offence.
RCMP say the charge was laid following an investigation by the force’s Integrated National Security Enforcement Team.
Four Canadian women and 10 children landed in Montreal in April after being held for years at the al-Roj camp, with three of the women arrested upon arrival and released on conditions.
Police say Ammara Amjad was arrested in Milton, Ont., on Thursday for allegedly participating in activities of the Islamic State group.
Amjad appeared in Brampton provincial court for a bail hearing and has been released subject to conditions.
Her next court date is set for Nov. 17.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Published Oct 06, 2023 • 1 minute read
A 29-year-old woman who was among a group of women and children returned to Canada in April after years in a Syrian prison camp has been charged with a terrorism-related offence.
RCMP say the charge was laid following an investigation by the force’s Integrated National Security Enforcement Team.
Four Canadian women and 10 children landed in Montreal in April after being held for years at the al-Roj camp, with three of the women arrested upon arrival and released on conditions.
Police say Ammara Amjad was arrested in Milton, Ont., on Thursday for allegedly participating in activities of the Islamic State group.
Amjad appeared in Brampton provincial court for a bail hearing and has been released subject to conditions.
Her next court date is set for Nov. 17.
Woman who was returned to Canada from Syria prison camp faces terrorism charge
A 29-year-old woman who was returned to Canada in April after years in a Syrian prison camp has been charged.