Common use of First Steps Clause in Contracts

First Steps. While it is important to establish whether actors used the Internet exclusively from their entry point into the radical milieu to their eventual activity, it is admittedly a high evidentiary bar, particularly given the weight of evidence in previous literature that suggests actors tend to use both domains. While coding the case studies line-by-line descriptively to establish whether there were online only trajectories, the data show that the Internet accounted for the first steps into the radical milieu for several actors. The majority then went on to act offline in different ways, but the filings and reporting explicitly state that the Internet was the entry point for them. Interestingly, descriptive coding highlighted several different reasons and methods for actors turning to the Internet to seek radical content. Upon constant comparison, these are selectively coded into themes which relate to how actors came to enter the radical online milieu. Spiritual Fulfilment Several actors turned to the Internet for a more radical interpretation of Islam because they felt they were not being fulfilled spiritually. As detailed above, Hoda Muthana, sought a more fundamental religious experience than her family could provide. Although they were deeply conservative, Muthana told a reporter that she sought a more radical interpretation of Islam, and her father’s graduation gift of a cellphone provided a gateway to the radical YouTube lectures and jihadist Twitter that gave her that opportunity.306 Ali Shukri Amin, who operated the influential @AmreekiWitness Twitter account and facilitated the travel of Reza Niknejad, told a forensic psychologist that he, too, sought a more intellectual religious experience than the ceremonial Islam that was practiced by his parents. He then researched Islam online, leading him to IS supporters, who made him feel intellectually valued.307 For others, it was a frustration that went beyond family. Similarly, Keonna Thomas’ defence counsel claimed that she began to use the Internet when she felt that her local Muslim community was not giving her the religious structure 306 Ellie Hall, Gone Girl: An Interview with An American in ISIS. 307 Yasmeen Abutaleb and Kristina Cooke, A teen’s turn to radicalism and the US safety net that failed to stop it, Reuters, June 6, 2016. Available at: https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-extremists- teen/. she desired, which led to her receiving spiritual instruction from IS supporters.308 A college friend of Warren Clark, who successfully travelled to Syria in 2015, noted that he converted to Islam in 2004, but as he became more devout, turned to the Internet, which in turn led him to radical sites and violent anti-American YouTube videos, which he would watch until the early hours of the morning.309 One Online Community to Another Other actors were already in online communities which may have led them towards engaging with the radical online milieu. As described above, Safya Roe Yassin was an active member in several online conspiracy theory communities, including anti-vaccine, “chemtrails”, and anti-GMO movements. Given the anti-government parallels between conspiracy theories and extremist movements, it is possible that Yassin transitioned sideways.310 The same can be said of Christopher Lee Cornell, who sought to conduct an attack on the US Capitol during the State of the Union in 2015, who also regularly posted anti-government conspiracy theories online, for example, suggesting that the Ferguson, MO riots were part of a plot to install a “Jewish world order”.311 Cornell had few friends and recently converted to Islam and it is suggested by Abrams that ‘the radical Islam he discovered online might have resonated’ with such a personality.312 Heather Coffman, too, was someone without a significant social circle, and her defence counsel claimed she developed a strong passion for video games and social media, which became her whole social life. The defendant’s sentencing memorandum suggests that through people she met in this domain, she became interested in IS and enjoyed making provocative posts on Facebook.313 These cases suggest that, rather than the Internet being an entry point to the online radical milieu exclusively from the offline domain, some actors can transition sideways from other communities. Several other actors found their way to radical content via new experiences while at university. Munther Omar Saleh was part of a plot to construct and detonate a pressure cooker bomb in New York, NY and was also part of the network of young men that sought to travel from the New York/New Jersey area. His entry point to radical content came as a college student at which time he became interested in politics. He noted that pictures of injured and orphaned children motivated him to become an activist: ‘I saw the civil war 308 USA v. Keonna Thomas, Defendant’s Sentencing Memorandum. 309 Tracy Connor, Texas Convert Warren Clark Sent ISIS His Resume, Report Says, NBC News, February 6, 2018. Available at: https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/texas-convert-warren-clark-sent-isis-his-resume- report-says-n845151. 310 Katie Zavadski, The American Anti-Vaccine Mom Turned ISIS Superstar. 311 USA v. Christopher Lee Cornell, Government’s Sentencing Memorandum, Case: 1:15-cr-00012-SSB, United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Western Division, 2016. 312 Dan Horn, The Terrorist Recruiter in Your Living Room, Cincinnati, January 18, 2015. Available at: https://eu.cincinnati.com/story/news/2015/01/17/terrorist-recruiter-living-room/21918469/. 313 USA v. Heather Coffman. Defendant’s Sentencing Memorandum. in Syria and I was moved… I felt a connection to the people and was bothered by their suffering.’314 Although his online messages began supporting a peaceful solution, the filings note that after months of researching the conflict online led Saleh to IS propaganda, which credibly made the case of defeating Assad, as well as promising nationhood and citizenship for him.315 Importantly, the Government prosecutors posit that Saleh was the driving force in recruiting the other members of his network, suggesting that this entry point predates an offline network.316 University was also where Mohimanual Bhuiya was motivated to seek further information about Muslim conflicts. Bhuiya, who successfully travelled to and returned from the caliphate, conducted a television interview upon his return to the US. In it he described his emotional turning point at Columbia University in which he took a course called “Muslims in Diaspora”, in which he watched the 2004 film “Submission” by Theo van Gough and Ayaan Hirsi Ali which depicts a women in a burqa with passages from the Koran written over her nude body. Bhuiya described the experience as “really humiliating”, which led him to turn to the Internet for answers.317 This then led to him spending “hours a day” online over the subsequent months, which eventually led to him travelling to Syria.318 Interest in Middle East Conflicts As with Saleh, mentioned above, other actors found their way to radical Islamist content online via following conflicts in the Middle East. Donald Ray Morgan travelled to Lebanon in January 2014, before eventually attempting to enter Syria to join IS, but was stopped en route in Turkey and sent back.319 In a television interview, Morgan gave a detailed explanation of his life and upbringing, saying that he was first exposed to Islam in university, but did not convert until a number of years later after his divorce in 2007.320 However, his turn towards radical Islamism came in about 2012, a time in which he was spending hours per day following the conflicts in the Middle East and got “sucked in” and 314 USA v. Munther Omar Saleh, Defendant’s Sentencing Memorandum, p.9. 315 USA v. Munther Omar Saleh, Defendant’s Sentencing Memorandum. 316 USA v. Munther Omar Saleh, Government’s Response to Defendant’s Sentencing Memorandum, Case 1:15- cr-00393-MKB, United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, 2018. 317 Richard Engel, Ben Plesser and Tracy Connor, American ISIS Defector: 'I've Let My Nation Down', May 22, 2016. Available at: https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-uncovered/american-isis-defector-i-ve-let-my- nation-down-n578216. 318 Richard Engel, Ben Plesser and Tracy Connor, American ISIS Defector: 'I've Let My Nation Down’. 319 USA v. Donald Ray Morgan, Factual Basis, Case 1:14-cr-414-1, United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, 2014. 320 NBC News, EXCLUSIVE: American Extremist Reveals His Quest to Join ISIS, September 3, 2014. Available at: https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/exclusive-american-extremist-reveals-his-quest-join-isis- n194796. began posting statements supportive of IS on social media,321 including statements quoting and giving homage to figures such as bin Laden and Awlaki.322 Samy el-Goarany, who allegedly travelled to Syria in January 2015, straddles the themes of following Middle East conflicts and already being online. El-Goarany – now deceased – had a prolific Tumblr account in which he posted about social justice, from critiques of US interventions to racism to anti-capitalist sentiments, as well as lighter themes such as music and travel.323 He was of Egyptian heritage and kept up to date with the ongoing civil war in his father’s home country. His friends noted that it was around this time that his postings became more radical in nature, and he even tweeted that the Egyptian Government’s massacre of Muslim Brotherhood supporters in 2013 was a key motivator for his travel.324 Importantly, it was via this entry point into the online radical milieu that he met Ahmed Mohammed el Gammal online in October 2014. El Gammal, who resided in Arizona but travelled to New York to meet el-Goarany, would be instrumental in facilitating el-Goarany’s travel to Syria, providing him with a contact in IS and a reference.325 Fertile Ground Rather than a location or interest of an entry point, the filings and reporting often suggest that actors’ first steps into jihadism were due to factors such as social isolation, trauma, and mental health problems, for which the Internet provided an outlet which could likely not be replicated by offline socialisation. Harlem Suarez, who planned an IED attack in West Keys, FL began searching for radical material online in April 2014.326 Reporting suggests that Suarez was unstable and childlike and would obsessively adopt new personas such as of a gangster, powerboat racer, and drug dealer, making ‘the web… a fertile ground for emotionally immature young men like Suarez to explore all kinds of fanatical ideas.’327 It was online that Suarez would meet an FBI undercover agent, with whom he planned his plot.328 Justin Nojan Sullivan, who plotted attacks in North Carolina and Virginia virtually with Junaid Hussain, told an undercover agent that ‘I liked IS from the beginning then I started 321 Richard Engel, How a North Carolina Native Ended Up on a Quest to Join ISIS, NBC News, September 3, 2014. Available at: https://highered.nbclearn.com/portal/site/HigherEd/flatview?cuecard=71348. 322 USA v. Donald Ray Morgan, Factual Basis. 323 Katie Zavadski, Mom and Dad Hid a Terrible ISIS Secret. 324 Katie Zavadski, Mom and Dad Hid a Terrible ISIS Secret. 325 USA v. Ahmed Mohammed el Gammal, Criminal Complaint, Case 1:15-cr-00588-ER, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, 2015. 326 Jessica Lipscomb, How Harlem Suarez Went From Cuban Immigrant to Wannabe ISIS Jihadi, Miami New Times, September 3, 2017. Available at: https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/harlem-suarez-goes-from- cuban-immigrant-to-wannabe-isis-jihadi-9643881. 327 Jessica Lipscomb, How Harlem Suarez Went From Cuban Immigrant to Wannabe ISIS Jihadi. 328 USA v. Harlem Suarez, Criminal Complaint, Case 0:15-mj-05016-LSS, United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, 2015. thinking about death and stuff so I became Muslim.’ 329 Sullivan’s neighbours told reporters that he rarely left the house, and he was also unstable, murdering his next door neighbour and soliciting a contract for the killing of his parents.330 His defence counsel said that he was depressed and suicidal and had been expelled from school, with a doctor diagnosing him with pre-schizophrenia.331 In the words of Government prosecutors, Shivam Patel, ‘began his embrace of ISIS while located in the safety of his parents’ home in Virginia,’332 also focusing on his troubled childhood and mental instability, including suicide attempts, attempting to harm a therapist while in hospital, and having multiple episodes of psychosis.333 The core concept which links these factors together is that the Internet can provide a diverse range of affordances which can enable ideological learning. In these cases, individuals were taken up to a certain point but felt that they needed to develop further, for which the Internet provided an outlet. For some it was a frustration with their existing spiritual existence, while for others it was a new conspiracy to help make sense of the world. For many it was an extension of learning within a formalised setting such as university, or an outlet to continue learning about conflict. Finally, it acted as an entry point for individuals that may have predispositions which could be exacerbated by such learning. Important here is the lack of regulation of ideas on social media compared to their offline counterparts – Bouhana (2019) notes that regulation has been outsourced from government to tech companies in recent years, which may promote the emergence of extremism-enabling moral ecologies. Where individuals may have been under the guidance of moderate trained professionals in the offline domain at a mosque, university, or receiving healthcare, the unstructured dialogue of social media and easy access to extreme propaganda could mean that this “jumping off” point created a dynamic which exacerbated these individuals’ radicalisation. Despite sharing the Internet as an entry point into the radical milieu, this section demonstrates the heterogeneity of terrorist pathways. There are a range of diverse factors which lead actors to turn to the Internet. This point is made by Holt et al. (2016), who argue that terrorists’ heterogeneous pathways result in a lack of common points of entry to the movement, however: The Internet may serve a leveling function that brings all individuals into a similar point of entry. The Internet as a source of ideological messaging is on 24 hours a 329 USA v. Justin Nojan Sullivan, Factual Basis, Case No. 1:16-cr-05- MR-DLH, United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, 2016, p.9. 330 Michael Gordon, First American ISIS Convert in Custody, Justin Sullivan, to Face the Death Penalty, Charlotte Observer, March 18, 2016. Available at: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/crime/inside-courts- blog/article66952427.html. 331 Michael Gordon, ‘I Am Not a Bad Person,’ ISIS Conspirator Says in Admitting he Murdered Elderly Neighbor, Charlotte Observer, July 17, 2017 Available at: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article161716598.html. 332 USA v. Shivam Patel, Government’s Sentencing Memorandum, Case 2:17-cr-00120-MSD-DEM, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, 2018, p.15. 333 USA v. Shivam Patel, Government’s Sentencing Memorandum. day, providing relatively equal access to radical messages and networks where individuals may gain entrance to a group. (Holt et al. 2016, p.7) In other words, some actors may turn to the Internet because it is the only place they can seek a radical interpretation of religion, while some may be incapable of forging social connections, but what they can find is the same: a vast amount of ideological content, peer-to-peer communications, and instructional material, among other things.