A North Carolina teen suspected of providing material support to ISIS, Hamas, and a branch of al Qaeda was instead busted for child porn.
In October, federal agents searched 18-year-old Ameer Abu-Hammad’s home and electronic devices seeking evidence that he was providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization. When agents confronted Abu-Hammad at college, he asked them if they would also search his phone for “other stuff,” according to a criminal complaint.
“The agents asked him to clarify and soon afterwards, he admitted that he had additionally used the phone to view pornogrpahy online that included minors,” the complaint continues, adding that Abu-Hammad allegedly said he prefered his laptop for adult porn and his phone for kid porn.
“The youngest child he recalled having seen within pornographic images was a child of approximately 9 or 10 years of age,” the complaint said. “Hammad admitted that he had been viewing child pornography for roughly two months.”
Graphic descriptions of the pornography found on Abu-Hammad’s devices note that it featured children as young as 6 to 9 months. Agents said they found approximately 39 images on his devices, featuring mostly young girls.
Agents also say they found a document entitled “Finding Children Sexually Attractive.” The document “‘explained that being asexually attracted to children does not make you a monster,’ however, sexual contact with children is illegal and child pornography is dangerous and harmful both to the individual with the sexual attraction as well as the children depicted.”
When he was questioned why he allegedly looked at child porn, agents say Abu-Hammad responded, “Because I have problems.”
Abu-Hammad’s attorney did not return a request for comment.
A search warrant obtained by the George Washington University Program on Extremism alleges a long history of extremist Facebook posts written publicly by Abu-Hammad.
“You know they’re executing journalists so they can stop US airstrikes and arming kurds?” he allegedly wrote after American journalist Steven Sotloff was beheaded by ISIS. “& they claim that those journalists are spreading lies against the Islamic State. But what do i know? Im [sic] only a Jabhat al Nusra fan.”
Al Nusra is the Syrian affiliate of al Qaeda.
In another post, he allegedly declared that he has “no problem” with “recklessly switching to my extremist side.”
“I’m an Islamic knight not a fucking nerd!!” he wrote.
The complaint says that on his Ask.fm page, Abu-Hammad responded that happiness means “Getting the hell out of this country forever.”
According to the complaint, this may have meant a desire to go to Syria. It claims he told a presumed ISIS member that he “desire[s] death as much as you desire life.” When the alleged militant seemingly invited him to Syria, Abu-Hammad responded “Soon…. inshallah.”
It also alleges his Facebook page rotated through several cover photos appearing to back ISIS.
“ISIS are a group of pissed off Muslims, whether you like it or not,” he allegedly wrote February 2015 in response to a video of an ISIS execution. “& even if they are misguided or brutal, its [sic] haram to ally yourself with the kuffar against them.”
In other posts, Abu-Hammad—whose social media profiles indicate he’s from Jenin, in the West Bank—allegedly indicated a desire to fight with militants in Gaza.
