North Carolina man pleads guilty to conspiring with Islamic State recruiter

[Valin]

Long War Journal:

Thomas Joscelyn

November 29, 2016

 

Justin Nojan Sullivan, a 20-year-old man from Morganton, North Carolina, pleaded guilty to terrorism charges today after admitting that he had conspired online with Junaid Hussain, who was one of the Islamic State’s key digital operatives.

 

Hussain was killed in an American airstrike in Raqqa, Syria on Aug. 24, 2015. But his virtual fingerprints continue to be uncovered, as Hussain has been tied to a number of Islamic State supporters in both the US and UK.

 

 

Sullivan was arrested in June 2015, just over two months before Hussain was killed.

 

 

 

Digital operatives and “remote-controlled” terror

 

It is often difficult to assess how much of a threat an aspiring jihadist poses. The FBI is tracking hundreds of potential cases at any given time.

 

Sullivan’s contacts with Hussain stand out as especially important, however, given that Islamic State operatives such as Hussain have guided a series of plots in the West.

 

Earlier this year, Munir Abdulkader pleaded guilty to terrorism charges after he also admitted to communicating with Junaid Hussain. According to the Department of Justice, Hussain “directed and encouraged Abdulkader,” who lived in Ohio, “to plan and execute a violent attack within the United States.” [see FDD’s Long War Journal report, Ohio man conspired with Islamic State recruiter, Justice Department says.]

 

It is likely that Hussain was also in contact with the two gunmen who opened fire at an event dedicated to drawing images of the Prophet Mohammed in Garland, Texas on May 3, 2015. As The New York Times reported, one of the two gunmen, Elton Simpson, tweeted that people should follow an account linked to Hussain shortly before his failed assault. Hussain’s tweets before the attempted shooting indicated that he possibly had foreknowledge of Simpson’s plans. The tweets suggest that there may have been more to Simpson’s relationship with Hussain.

 

(Snip)