ISIS suspects charged in murders
Militants’ victims included 4 Americans
WASHINGTON – Two British ISIS militants known as “The Beatles” are facing terrorism charges in the deaths of several hostages, including four Americans, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.
Officials said Alexanda Amon Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, whom captives had referred to as the Beatles because of their British accents, and two other co-conspirators were involved in the kidnapping, torturing and killing of American, European and Japanese hostages from 2012 to 2016. The two are in FBI custody in the United States and were set to appear Wednesday in federal court in Alexandria, Va., just outside Washington, D.C.
The two men grew up in the United Kingdom, where they became radicalized, authorities said. They left London in 2012 and traveled to Syria to join the Islamic State group.
“Today’s announcement is a reminder of the threat that we continue to face from radical Islamic terrorists,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Demers said.
The other co-conspirators were Mohammed Emwazi, also known as Jihadi John, who was killed in an airstrike in 2015, and an unnamed British citizen who is incarcerated in Turkey.
Among the American victims were print and video journalist James Foley, who was covering the war in Syria when he was captured; Steven Sotloff, a journalist who covered the Middle East and was reporting on the refugee crisis in Syria; Peter Kassig, a humanitarian aid worker; and Kayla Mueller, also a humanitarian worker.
ISIS’s media center released videos in 2014 showing the beheadings of Foley, Sotloff and Kassig.
Mueller was sexually abused by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the former ISIS leader who was killed during a U.S.-led raid in Syria in 2019.
Authorities said Mueller’s family received an email from ISIS fighters in 2015 confirming her death.
Mueller’s parents lauded President Donald Trump for taking decisive action in killing al-Baghdadi.
Kayla Mueller was abducted Aug. 4, 2013, and she endured rape and torture for 18 months. Her parents, Carl and Marsha Mueller, said the Obama administration vowed to do everything it could to investigate her abduction.
“We put all our faith in government, but the government let us down,” said Carl Mueller, who held a picture of his daughter.
Kotey and Elsheikh, who were captured in 2018, had admitted their roles in ransom negotiations for the hostages but denied allegations they tortured and murdered the captives.
According to an indictment unsealed Wednesday, Kotey, Elsheikh and Emwazi supervised detention facilities and were involved in torturing the victims.
Kotey and Elsheikh were charged with hostage taking resulting in death and other conspiracy charges. They face life imprisonment if convicted.
The Justice Department decided not to pursue the death penalty against the men because it needed evidence held by the United Kingdom to prosecute Kotey and Elsheikh, Attorney General William Barr said in a letter to Britain’s Home Secretary Priti Patel in August.
“Today’s announcement is a reminder of the threat that we continue to face from radical Islamic terrorists.” John Demers assistant Attorney General for National Security