Teen Fell Victim to ISIS' False Utopian Promises

Teen Fell Victim to ISIS' False 'Utopian' Promises

By Hailey Lawrence

 

Mohammed Hamzah Khan is an Illinois man scheduled to be sentenced today for attempting to join ISIS back in 2014. His attorneys are asking for him to release him from prison so he can can start college next fall, asking "to fashion a sentence that is tempered with mercy," according to attorney Thomas Durkin. Khan's story reflects the direct influence that ISIS has over social media recruiting and the controversy with it.

Mohammed Hamzah Khan was charged with plotting to join ISIS with his younger siblings

Khan was 19-years-old when he took his two siblings--who were minors--to O'Hare International Airport in an attempt to fly halfway across the world to join the Syria-based terrorist group, according to ABC News. He was arrested by federal agents after the trio left behind letters to their parents stating that they were going to live a life a jihad across the world. 

“I simply cannot sit here and let my brothers and sisters get killed with my own hard earned money,” Khan wrote in one letter. It was a reference to the US airstrikes that commonly take place in Syria. 

In a counterargument, Khan's attorneys say that these letters were “ISIS’s asinine utopian recruitment promises” that had direct influence on the trio, according to ABC News. 

“[T]he recruitment of Mr. Khan and his minor siblings by savvy [ISIS] recruiters using persuasive propaganda on social media to capitalize on their susceptibility,” Durkin wrote, “played a very significant role in the commission of this offense.” 

Durkin is asking that Khan will be given supervised release next August so he can attend college where he will improve himself and make significant changes in his life. Khan has also been working with counter-terrorism investigators and has furthered two active investigations of ISIS recruiters and fighters, according to ABC News.

The government still wishes to keep Khan behind bars for around three more years because of the seriousness of his offense. 

This is a direct example of the influence of ISIS over social media--a loose form of cyber warfare. Stopping the influence of ISIS through this new dimension would immediately stop the influence of this threat once and for all. For now, it is up to time to tell where our priorities rest.

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