USA v. Suliman, Mohamed Fathy
Gainesville, FL

ISIS

A former resident of Gainesville, Florida, was recently expelled from a foreign country and returned to the United States by the FBI for prosecution. Mohamed Fathy Suliman, a U.S. citizen, was charged with attempting to provide material support, including personnel (himself) and services, to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization. It is alleged that Suliman left Gainesville, Florida, travelled to Turkey, and attempted to enter Syria illegally in 2014 in an effort to join and support ISIS. Suliman made a one-way flight reservation in June 2014, from Orlando, Florida, to Alexandria, Egypt, with stops in Chicago, Illinois, and Istanbul, Turkey. He initiated his travel in June 2014 but when he arrived in Istanbul, Turkey, rather than traveling on to Egypt, Suliman paid cash for a one-way airline ticket to the Turkish/Syrian border town of Gaziantep, Turkey. In June 2014, he was arrested by Turkish authorities for illegally crossing into Syria from Turkey. A search of an email account subscribed to by Suliman also revealed approximately 36 email attachments that contained various audio files that consisted of messages calling for jihad, justifications for jihad, rewards for those who participate in jihad and martyrdom, and that encouraged fighting against the crusaders, infidels (non-Muslims), and those that insult the Prophet Muhammad. The email attachments were dated from May 2009 through October 2012. It was also alleged that in both August and December of 2014, Suliman's Facebook account displayed an ISIS profile photo featuring the black flag that is ISIS's symbol. He was indicted in February 2021 with attempting to provide material support to ISIS.