
Benjamin Carpenter, a 34-year-old man from Knoxville, Tennessee, better known by his nom de guerre Abu Hamza, has been sentenced to a hefty 20 years in prison, followed by another two decades of supervised release. Carpenter was convicted for his concerted efforts to support the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) through translation and propagation of extremist media. The U.S. Department of Justice detailed that his activities encompassed leading a global digital campaign aimed at disseminating ISIS's message of terror, according to an official Justice Department press release.
"For years, this defendant led a global digital media operation to distribute pro-ISIS propaganda, promoting the group’s radical message of terror and pushing it to every corner of the world," declared Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen. The Justice Department highlighted the gravity of Carpenter's conduct, emphasizing their dedication to holding those who support foreign terrorist organizations accountable. U.S. Attorney Francis M. Hamilton III echoed this sentiment, asserting that Carpenter's conviction impedes ISIS's expansion and its propagation of violent ideologies.
Carpenter was the head of Ahlut-Tawhid Publications, which the trial revealed to be an extensive network of ISIS supporters disseminating translated propaganda. As evidenced at his trial, Carpenter's endeavors included publications like the weekly newsletter "From Dabiq to Rome," celebrating American soldiers' deaths and advocating war against the United States and its allies. His translation services weren't merely hypothetical. In a failed attempt in 2020 and 2021, Carpenter reached out to someone he thought was connected with ISIS's media bureau to help reestablish its official foreign-language media wing—only to learn that his contact was actually an undercover FBI agent.
The investigation leading to Carpenter's conviction, spanned various FBI Field Offices, with the Knoxville Office taking point. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kyle J. Wilson and Casey T. Arrowood, along with Trial Attorney Charles J. Kovats Jr. of the National Security Division's Counterterrorism Section, were at the helm of the prosecution.