TN Man Convicted in ISIS Case

(AmericanProsperity.com) – The US Department of Justice announced on October 20 that a US federal jury convicted a Tennessee man of attempting to provide material support to Yihadi terrorist group ISIS. The suspect is a 31-year-old male from Knoxville named Benjamin Carpenter. He was convicted of the terrorism charge at the end of an eight-day trial. Different media outlets reported that Carpenter, who also goes by the nickname of Abu Hamza, faces up to 20 years in jail and even a lifetime of supervised release.

As noted by the Department of Justice, evidence presented at the trial revealed that the Tennessee man used to serve as the leader of the Ahlut-Tawhidi Publication. This one is known for being an international group of ISIS supporters that produced, translated, and even distributed ISIS propaganda through different nations across the world. Some of these publications included recruitment information and anti-Western propaganda that contained misinformation and extremist content.

In a press release, the Justice Department explained that Carpenter, under the alias of Abu Hamza, published a massive body of ISIS media “for years.” The agency pointed out this included a weekly newsletter named “From Dabiq to Rome,” which glorified ISIS suicide bombers and even celebrated the death of every American soldier. The department also explained that this newsletter called for the Islamic world to execute an “open war” against some Western nations, including the United States.

The release also showed that Carpenter contacted an ISIS member who was part of the terrorist group’s central media bureau. Both had different meetings in 2020 and 2021, where Carpenter delivered numerous translations of a project that tried to relaunch ISIS’ official foreign-language media outlet Al-Hayat.

The conviction took place more than two years after the Tennessee man was formally arrested in March 2021. His detention happened after an indictment from a federal grand jury, which charged him with the attempt to deliver resources and material support to the terrorist organization.