A Michigan man has been found guilty of attempting to aid ISIS and of holding onto a bomb-making device. Aws Mohammed Naser, age 37, faced a jury and, after a five-week trial, was convicted on charges of attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated terrorist organization, and for possessing a destructive device, the Office of Public Affairs announced.
According to Sue J. Bai, head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, Naser's conviction comes after years of his attempts to support ISIS, "first by attempting to join its ranks overseas, then by turning to explosives and extremist networks on American soil." U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr. described Naser as a bombmaker and a "self-avowed ‘son of the Islamic State'," as stated by the Office of Public Affairs.
Details from the trial painted a picture of radicalization wherein Naser frequently posted extreme Salafi-Jihadist ideology to online platforms and sought to enter war zones in Iraq and Syria alongside Russell Dennison, an ISIS associate, believed to have perished in Syria in 2019. Naser robbed a gas station and later found his efforts to depart the U.S. stymied, resulting in his arrest, conviction, and a three-year incarceration for armed robbery. Upon release, he dove back into extremist activities—quietly setting up social media accounts and engaging with ISIS propaganda before his plots were thwarted by the FBI, who uncovered a destructive device in his possession, as detailed by the Office of Public Affairs.
The consequences for Naser, who now faces significant prison time—up to 20 years for attempting to aid a terrorist group, and up to 15 years for the possession of the destructive device—are pending sentencing. A federal district court judge will determine the sentence after reviewing the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other relevant statutory factors.
