Via Detroit News:
A Dearborn man captured on an Islamic State battlefield this month was charged in an unsealed indictment Tuesday with providing material support to the Islamic State.
The indictment, dated July 19, was unsealed five days after it was reported that Ibraheem Musaibli, 28, was taken into custody by coalition-backed forces this month while trying to flee the Middle Euphrates River Valley in northern Syria, according to the New York Times, which first reported his capture.
He is believed to be one of only two male Americans captured alive on an Islamic State battlefield and his case presents one of the first times the Trump administration is using federal courts to prosecute a returning foreign fighter.
Musaibli will appear in a Detroit federal court Wednesday for his arraignment.
The indictment accuses Musaibli of providing support to ISIS since April 2015. ISIS is a designated foreign terrorist organization. He used several aliases, including Abu Shifa Musaibli and Abu ‘Abd Al-Rahman Al-Yemeni, according to the government.
“The National Security Division will not tolerate threats to our country from terrorist organizations like ISIS — not least of all those that come from our own citizens,” John Demers, assistant attorney general of national security, said in a statement. “Musaibli’s alleged provision of material support to ISIS put the United States at risk and may have endangered the lives of countless innocent people. I am confident that he will face justice for his crimes, and I hope that his case sends a clear message that we will hold our citizens accountable who are apprehended overseas and tried to join a terrorist organization such as ISIS.”
The portrayal is at odds with a description provided by his family. Musaibli is no terrorist but was lured by fellow Muslims into coming to Syria to study religion and work, younger brother Abdullah Musaibli said last week.
On Tuesday, Abdullah Musaibli told The Detroit News he booked a flight home from New York after Ibraheem’s indictment.
“I have to come back to Michigan to support my big brother,” said Abdullah Musaibli, 26. “I’ve been in New York City for a couple of months … it’s time I see the family.”
Abdullah Musaibli said he still believes his brother is not a terrorist.
“Yes, 110 percent, I don’t just believe he’s innocent. I KNOW he’s innocent,” Abdullah Musaibli said via Facebook Messenger.
Abdullah said his brother will have a court-appointed lawyer.
“Hopefully, he or she is good.”