WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — One such informant was used to solicit Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, a 26-year-old naturalized US citizen and former National Guard member in the US state of Virginia, The Intercept reported on Tuesday.
Jalloh was arrested on July 3 after attempting to purchase a rifle at a local gun store.
According to the US Department of Justice, a now-deceased Daesh member solicited Jalloh’s help in procuring money and weapons that he said would be used in support of the Islamic State terrorist group.
The Daesh member provided Jalloh with a mobile messaging application and instructions to send $500 to an undercover FBI agent posing as an Daesh member abroad.
Media reports cited members of Jalloh’s family who claimed that the behavior linked by the government to terrorism had been melded into a false narrative that cast the Muslim as a dangerous radical.
"Mohamed was a military kid. He owned other guns before this all happened and he generally bought and practiced with guns all the time anyways," media reports quoted Jalloh’s sister, Fatmatu as saying. "He grew up here in Virginia and never thought of something like buying a gun as remarkable or suspicious."
The FBI claimed in an affidavit that Jalloh was radicalized by watching lectures of former al-Qaeda ideologue Anwar al-Awlaki. His family claims he was actually radicalized by the FBI informant.
The Justice Department charged Jalloh with attempting to provide material support to Daesh, which is outlawed in the United States, Russia and many other countries.
If convicted, Jalloh faces up a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
