Man charged with supporting ISIS

A 22 year-old Oakland man has been charged with supporting ISIS, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

A federal grand jury in San Francisco indicted Amer Sinan Alhaggagi on Thursday on charges of attempting to provide material support to ISIS between July and November 2016, according to a news release from the office of U.S. Attorney Brian J. Stretch.

Alhaggagi allegedly attempted to open social media accounts for the use and benefit of ISIS.

The FBI arrested Alhaggagi on November 29, 2016, based on a criminal complaint charging identity theft, after which a judge ordered him to be detained because he presented a flight risk.

The indictment also alleges Alhaggagi committed three counts of identity theft offenses, including using a stolen credit card to make nearly $5,000 in fraudulent online purchases from a clothing company, according to the news release.

The investigation began last July and was conducted by the FBI, the Special Prosecutions and National Security Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the U.S. Department of Justice National Security Division, the Berkeley Police Department, and members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force, including the Oakland Police Department.

If convicted, Alhaggagi could face up to 47 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for each count.

“Amer is not anti-American and does not support ISIS or any other terrorist organization. He is completely nonviolent, and he took no actions to harm anyone,” said Alhaggagi’s attorney, Mary McNamara, in a statement emailed to this news organization. “The evidence we have suggests these charges are based on internet chat conversations that he had with a number of unknown people. Amer is a very young and naïve man, and it appears he allowed himself to be drawn into conversations that he should have been far more suspicious of.”