A Jamaican cleric who was extradited to New York City as a result of an international undercover operation by the New York Police Department was found guilty of state terrorism charges on Thursday. He had been accused of recruiting followers for the Islamic State organization.
According to the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office, Abdullah el-Faisal will be sentenced next month following his conviction in Manhattan’s state supreme court on charges that included encouraging or supporting acts of terrorism.
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According to Bragg’s office, this was the first state-level trial for terrorism-related allegations. The legislation against terrorism in New York was adopted in the wake of the September 11th attacks.
El-Faisal was deported from Kenya and had previously done jail time in Britain after being found guilty of inciting racial hatred. He was apprehended in his native Jamaica in 2017 and extradited to New York City in 2020.
According to the authorities, an undercover cop in New York City began speaking with the cleric who was residing in Jamaica in 2016 after assuming the identity of a would-be terrorist.
Authorities claimed that el-Faisal, who they described as having great influence, had backed the Islamic State group for a number of years while advocating for the establishment of an Islamic caliphate in online lectures.
The cleric allegedly divulged contact information for someone in Syria who would serve as a conduit for communication with the Islamic State during the encounter with the undercover cop, who ultimately traveled abroad as part of the operation, according to the authorities. He allegedly also tried to arrange a marriage between the officer and a militant group member, among other things.
El-lawyer, Faisal’s Michael Fineman, declared that he will appeal the verdict because he was “disappointed” with it. He said that the cleric never genuinely consented to assist the cop in entering an area that was under their authority.
Federal investigators claim that el-Faisal’s had an impact on individuals like Omar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the alleged underwear bomber who attempted to blow up a transatlantic airplane on Christmas Day 2009, and Faisal Shahzad, who attempted to detonate a device in Times Square in 2010.
