50 “homegrown violent jihadists” to be released in US between now and 2026

Ismail Royer, a former employee of Hamas-linked CAIR who served “more than 13 years on firearms charges connected to his work helping others get to a militant training camp in Kashmir,” that is, to a jihad terror training camp, sells a good deal of snake oil in this article. Its last few paragraphs are given over to Royer to explain how various Muslims convicted on terror charges are actually harmless. The whole Associated Press article, in fact, is devoted to trying to lull the public into complacency over the release of 50 “homegrown violent jihadists” into the general population.

In reality, this story shows up the wrongheadedness of the entire approach to the global jihad threat so far. These jihadis have been treated as criminals, and since their sentences for criminal activity are ending, they are going to be released. But in fact, they are enemy combatants in an ongoing war, and the idea that they should be released onto the streets of the United States should be unthinkable, especially in light of the fact that absolutely nothing has been done or will be done while they’re in prison to disabuse them of their jihadist sentiments. To attempt to do that would be “Islamophobic.”

“Should springing of US terrorism convicts alarm Americans?,” by Deb Reichmann, Associated Press, August 6, 2017:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Dozens of convicts serving time in U.S. prisons for terrorism-related offenses are due to be released in the next several years, raising the question whether that’s something Americans should fear….

Among the incarcerated, according to the Bureau of Prisons, are 380 linked to international terrorism and 83 tied to domestic terrorism. A Congressional Research Service report said 50 “homegrown violent jihadists” were to be released between last January and the end of 2026.

And more are entering prison.

Former FBI Director James Comey, who was fired by President Donald Trump in May, had told Congress that the bureau had more than 900 active investigations related to Islamic State and other extremist activity in all 50 states.

Most of those convicted of terrorism-related crimes are held at the high-security U.S. penitentiary in Florence, Colorado, and federal prisons in Terre Haute, Indiana, and Marion, Illinois. Some are in for life, but the average sentence is 13 years. That means most will walk out of prison with years of freedom ahead.

“There were people I was with in prison who you’d be happy to have as a neighbor because they were normal, reasonable people,” said Ismail Royer. He was released last December after serving more than 13 years on firearms charges connected to his work helping others get to a militant training camp in Kashmir, the disputed Himalayan territory claimed by India and Pakistan.

“The guys that I’m really, really concerned about are the loose cannons,” Royer said.

Royer grew up in a Catholic family in suburban St. Louis. By the time he was 21, he had converted to Islam and was fighting alongside fellow Muslims in Bosnia. At 31, he was serving a 20-year sentence.

Today, he lives in the Washington, D.C., area, works for the Center for Islam and Religious Freedom and wants to help nonextremist Muslim-Americans find their footing in American society.

Behind bars, Royer got to know inmates arrested for only loose ties to terrorism. But he also met Richard Reid, the al-Qaida “shoe bomber,” and John Walker Lindh, an American captured in Afghanistan while fighting with the Taliban.

Some were ensnared in sting operations, Royer said, or were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Others were up to no good; Royer said he was happy the FBI arrested them.

“At any time, the loose cannon might go to the convenience store and cut off somebody’s head. You just don’t know. These guys are very problematic,” Royer said while eating grilled cheese at a hotel not far from the White House. “I don’t want them as my neighbor. You can’t sit there and talk to them and tell them that their views are mistaken.”…

Karen Greenberg, director of the Center on National Security at Fordham University’s School of Law, doesn’t think the public should panic. Those released will face months to years of supervision. Phone calls and online communications are monitored. Travel can be restricted. Weekly meetings with counselors can be required.

“We’re not talking about 9/11 perpetrators,” Greenberg said….

Royer, who served time in Terre Haute and elsewhere, offered some examples of those in line for release and their place on the terrorism spectrum.

One inmate, he said, was a former computer programmer from Yemen who was arrested for stealing proprietary software and trying to market it as his own. The inmate claimed he told U.S. officials he would give them the names of al-Qaida followers if they let him go.

“He lied to them. He didn’t know anyone from al-Qaida. He just told them some names and very quickly they found out that he was full of crap,” Royer said. “He went to prison for lying to the FBI and they put him in the terrorism unit.”

A second inmate was picked up selling night vision equipment to a U.S. law enforcement official posing as a member of Lebanon’s Hezbollah. Royer said the inmate was trying to make a buck. He was charged with attempting to provide material support to a terrorist group and ended up in the terrorism unit at Terre Haute.

“The only concern with him is that he’s a hustler,” Royer said. “That’s not to say that it’s not a crime.”

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