US army did nothing for years

Military kept sergeant in service despite his open support for IS

HONOLULU: The army knew Sgt 1st Class Ikaika Kang had shown support for Islamic State years ago. It even took away his security clearance for a while.

But he stayed in the service, deploying to Afghanistan in 2013. Then, last weekend, the FBI arrested the 34-year-old on terrorism charges following a year-long investigation, shortly after Kang declared his loyalty to the terrorist group and exclaimed that he wanted to “kill a bunch of people”, according to authorities.

The case highlights the challenges investigators face with protecting the public from a potentially dangerous actor on one hand and gathering sufficient evidence to enable prosecution on the other.

Kang is on record making pro-Islamic State comments and threatening to hurt or kill other service members back in 2011, according to an FBI affidavit filed on Monday in federal court.

The army revoked his security clearance in 2012, but gave it back to him the following year. Last year, the army called the FBI when it “appeared that Kang was becoming radicalised”, the affidavit said.

Retired army judge and prosecutor Col Gregory A. Gross said he was perplexed that the army allowed Kang to remain a soldier even after his favourable comments towards the Islamic State group.

But Gross said the army may have decided Kang was just mouthing off and was not a threat.

Gross served as the initial judge in the court martial of Major Nidal Malik Hasan, an army psychiatrist who killed 13 people and wounded more than 30 in a 2009 shooting at Fort Hood, Texas. He said on Tuesday he was concerned by the similarities between Kang and Hasan’s case.

“He was making all these statements, and giving these presentations,” said Gross, who is currently a civilian defence attorney for military service members.

Lt Col Curtis J. Kellogg, a spokesman for the 25th Infantry Division, declined to comment, citing the ongoing investigation.

Kang’s court-appointed lawyer, Birney Bervar, said his client may suffer from service-related mental health issues of which the government was aware but neglected to treat. He declined to elaborate.

Noel Tipon, an attorney in military and civilian courts, said there’s nothing in the army manual on removing soldiers from the service that would address allegations like speaking favourably about a group like Islamic State.

He suspects the FBI wanted Kang to stay in the army while they investigated whether he had collaborators.

“They probably said ‘let’s monitor it and see if we can get a real terrorist cell,’” said Tipon, who served in the Marine Corps.

The FBI said its investigation showed Kang was acting on his own.

Happier times:

Kang’s father showing photos of his son in Kailua, Hawaii. Kang, an activeduty US soldier, was arrested over the weekend on terrorism charges. — AP