Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan District Attorney, announced that Shaikh Abdullah Faisal, a convicted ISIS recruiter and marriage broker, was given a sentence of 18 years in state prison on Thursday.
In a statement, District Attorney Bragg said, “Shaikh Faisal’s advocacy, recruitment, and provision of material support to ISIS helped the terrorist organization perform horrific acts, including the murder and kidnapping of innocent people.”
Tragically, those who wish to harm this nation will continue to target Manhattan. Our office is prepared to continue combating terrorism, working with partners in federal and state law enforcement,” Bragg stated.
Prosecutors called Faisal, 59, “one of the most influential English-speaking terrorists of our times.” He was found guilty of preaching violent jihad, encouraging ISIS recruitment on social media, and attempting to inspire others to commit acts of terrorism in the name of the Islamic State.
He was also found guilty of helping women find husbands for Islamic militants.
According to the DA’s office, New York state’s first-ever terrorism trial came to an end on January 26 with Faisal’s conviction. After a trial that lasted two months, he was found guilty on all counts by a jury after just two hours of deliberation.
Following a joint investigation by the NYPD’s Intelligence Bureau and the Manhattan DA’s Office’s Counter Terrorism Program, which was established in 2015 to investigate extremists, terror plots, and terror financing, Faisal was arrested in Jamaica in 2017. He was then extradited to New York City.
In an effort to convince an undercover NYPD officer to join ISIS and carry out attacks, Faisal began communicating with her via email, text, and video chat from his Jamaican home in 2016.
He also offered to introduce the woman, who was posing as a potential jihadist, to a suitable terrorist husband if she revealed that she was trained in CPR and first aid.
The undercover officer was advised by Faisal, who used to go by the name Trevor William Forrest, to listen to his online speeches and lectures, in which he urged followers to fight against Islamist foes and even kill Americans, Jews, and Hindus.
The Muslim fanatic was recently sentenced in the Unified Realm in 2003 for impelling homicide and utilizing racially charged, scornful manner of speaking to help fear based oppressor philosophies.
