From News 12: A federal jury convicted a Knoxville man of terrorism for trying to support ISIS. The jury convicted 31-year-old Benjam
From News 12: A federal jury convicted a Knoxville man of terrorism for trying to support ISIS.
The jury convicted 31-year-old Benjamin Carpenter on October 19, following a trial that lasted eight days, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said. They said he also goes by the name “Abu Hamza.”
The DOJ said they convicted Carpenter of attempting to provide material to support ISIS, which is a foreign terrorist organization.
He faces a sentencing of up to 20 years in federal prison and a lifetime of supervised release. However, District Judge Katherine A. Crytzer will sentence Carpenter at a later date.
Evidence showed that Carpenter served as the leader of Ahlut-Tawhid Publications, which is a pro-ISIS international organization. Supporters translate, produce and distribute ISIS propaganda, according to the DOJ.
Carpenter used the alias “Abu Hamza” to publish ISIS media. This included a weekly newsletter called “From Dabiq to Rome.” The DOJ said this newsletter celebrated deaths of American soldiers and suicide bombers and called for open war against the U.S. and its allies.
An undercover FBI employee posed as someone affiliated with ISIS’s central media bureau. Carpenter contacted this person in 2020 and 2021 and provided translation services for a project that was meant to relaunch Al-Hayat Media Center. This is ISIS’s official foreign language media, the DOJ said in a press release.
