A woman who used to live in Indiana has been charged with conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State and helping people provide material support to the terrorist organization, the Justice Department announced Thursday.
According to the indictment, Samantha Elhassani provided material support and resources to ISIS from the fall of 2014 to the summer of 2015. She was charged with aiding and abetting two ISIS fighters by procuring tactical gear and funds to them.
“My office is committed to aggressively pursuing and prosecuting those who support designated terrorist organizations such as ISIS,” U.S. Attorney Thomas Kirsch said in a statement. “This indictment is an example of that commitment. The indictment alleges that Elhassani traveled abroad and provided funds and supplies for use by two ISIS fighters. The seriousness of the charges reflect the gravity of Elhassani’s alleged conduct.”
“The charges against Ms. Elhassani illustrate that actions of providing support to ISIS have serious consequences, and should serve as a reminder to American citizens that providing assistance to terrorist organizations or individuals aligned with terrorist entities will not be tolerated,” said Grant Mendenhall, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Indianapolis Division.
Elhassani has been the subject of a documentary by Frontline and the BBC, and in an interview this spring she claimed that her husband — a Moroccan national — misled her into traveling to Raqqa, Syria with their children in 2015. Her husband was ultimately killed fighting for ISIS and she and her children were subsequently taken into custody by Kurdish authorities.
The indictment claimed she was removed from custody of the Syrian Democratic Forces in July to U.S. law enforcement, where she provided false statements to the FBI in the Northern District of Indiana. She was charged with lying to the FBI in July.
