A California 22-year-old who was too afraid to join ISIS was apprehended at the airport, allegedly on his way to join al Qaeda affiliate al Nusra.
The latest alleged American recruit for al Nusra was desperate to leave the country because the Supreme Court passed gay marriage.
In a complaint unsealed last week, authorities say a 22-year-old Bay Area man planned a trip overseas to join al Qaeda’s Syrian branch. Adam Shafi, of Fremont, is accused of purchasing tickets to Istanbul from San Francisco after he chickened out of joining ISIS last year.
The government claims that Shafi believed U.S. politics were heading in the wrong direction—like the Supreme Court’s ruling on gay marriage a few days prior—and that he wanted to live in a country run under Muslim values.
“Adam was discouraged with the politics and direction of the United States, citing the recent Supreme Court decision allowing gay marriage, and wanted to be in a country of people of similar mindset and religion as himself,” the criminal complaint reads.
But ISIS was too brutal and killed too many Muslims for his taste, the complaint alleges. For Shafi, an American disillusioned with U.S. policy and worried about the plight of Muslims around the world, Jabhat al Nusra, which executes regime soldiers and alleged adulterers, seemed like the more moderate choice.
And even though Shafi allegedly attempted to join al Nusra because it better aligned with Islamic values, the group commits similar violence and brutality as ISIS in its own battle against secular Western ideals.
As with many other recent radicalization cases, it was Shafi’s parents who first alerted authorities about his potential plots in the ultimate act of parental sacrifice. When Shafi disappeared during a family trip to Egypt last August, his dad warned the U.S. embassy in the country that he might be heading to Syria. Shafi texted another relative that he was going to “protect Muslims,” and the father said he and high school friends had been following extremist imams online.
Shafi ultimately resurfaced after rendezvousing with a friend in Turkey. They were just sightseeing, he said. When interviewed by the feds, he said he was going to see the condition of Syrian refugees.
But according to the complaint, Shafi wasn’t acting alone. Although ISIS is clearly winning the popularity contest among young, Muslim-American wannabe extremists, at least two other men were in on Shafi’s alleged plot to join the Nusra Front.
Source: http://www.thedailybeast.com/
Twitter: @Syria_Protector