WASHINGTON -- A Pennsylvania teenager who allegedly supported the self-described Islamic State on social media was arrested by federal authorities on Thursday, a few weeks after FBI agents conducting a search found high-capacity magazines in a backpack in his bedroom.
Jalil Ibn Ameer Aziz, a 19-year-old U.S. citizen from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, made his first appearance in federal court Thursday to face charges of conspiring and attempting to provide material support for the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. Aziz used at least 57 different Twitter accounts to disseminate ISIS propaganda and advocate for violence, federal authorities allege. Twitter routinely shut down the accounts, but Aziz would create new ones in their place.
Aziz had a "tactical-style backpack," which authorities described as a "go bag," with "five M4-style high-capacity magazines loaded with 5.56 ammunition, a modified kitchen knife with the handle removed and wrapped in cloth or string, a thumb drive, a tin filled with various over-the-counter medications, and a head wrap commonly referred to as a balaclava." FBI agents found the bag when they searched the home Aziz shares with his parents on Nov. 27, according to an affidavit from a FBI agent.
"Pennsylvania have very light gun laws its very easy to arm yourself," Aziz allegedly tweeted back in March. It's unclear whether Aziz made any attempts to acquire a weapon while he was under the watch of the FBI.
Aziz also allegedly discussed traveling to ISIS-controlled territory in Iraq or Syria and purchasing a female slave. He used a Twitter account in June 2014 to pledge allegiance to an ISIS leader, tweeted #KillAllKufar in January (advocating for the murder of "infidels"), and reposted tweets calling for violence after the murder of three Muslims in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in February.
"This martyrdom will be a spark that will awaken sleeping lions in America, let their blood watered the seeds of jihad #ChapelHillShooting," Aziz allegedly tweeted.
Federal authorities also claim that Aziz used his various accounts to assist individuals who were traveling to fight with ISIS, and that Aziz "allegedly acted as an intermediary between a person in Turkey and several well-known members" of the organization.
Also on HuffPost: