(NewsReady.com) – A Tennessee man has been jailed for running a pro-terrorist propaganda cell. Benjamin Carpenter led a global network that translated ISIS material into English and distributed it in the West. He was caught after agreeing to work for an undercover federal agent.
On July 17, Carpenter, of Knoxville, Tennessee, was sentenced to 20 years in prison, followed by 20 years of supervised release. The 34-year-old, who also goes by the name Abu Hamza, was convicted of attempting to provide material support to ISIS, the notoriously brutal Islamist terror group that used to control large parts of Iraq and Syria. Infamously, the group attracted many western Islamists who joined its so-called “Islamic State.”
Carpenter was arrested in March 2021, after he contacted someone he thought was linked to ISIS’s central media office but turned out to be an undercover FBI agent. Carpenter then translated ISIS material for the agent, including a video showing ISIS murdering three people. According to prosecutors, Carpenter did this for “a deeply held belief in ISIS and its ideology and methods,” not for money.
According to Justice Department statements, Carpenter planned to rebuild Ahlut-Tawhid Publications (ATP), an international network of ISIS sympathizers who take the group’s Arabic-language propaganda, translate it into English, and distribute it. ISIS’ propaganda, which includes print magazines as well as social media and videos, is the main way the group recruits Westerners into terrorism. However, the network had been partly dismantled by Western intelligence and security agencies; Carpenter took over the remains and was working to expand it again.
In a statement, Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen said Carpenter’s sentence “reflects the seriousness of [his] conduct.” Meanwhile, Carpenter and his attorneys are complaining about it; he insists his work is protected by the First Amendment, and claims the court didn’t consider that when it sentenced him. The Justice Department’s response was to point out that Carpenter openly called for war against the US and its allies—conduct the Constitution was never meant to protect.
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