Jury to decide alleged jihadi’s fate as sides rest in terror case
The case of a reclusive video gamer accused by prosecutors of being an Islamic State-inspired jihadi went to a federal jury yesterday with a potential life sentence hanging in the balance for David Daoud Wright.
“He wanted to cause more harm to the United States than the Boston Marathon bombing,” assistant U.S. At- torney B. Stephanie Siegmann told jurors in her passionate closing summary of the three-week trial.
U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young — who also presided over the 2002 guilty plea of convicted shoe bomber Richard C. Reid — sent the panel to their deliberations shortly before 12:30 p.m.
Prosecutors say Wright, 28, recruited his uncle, Usaamah Rahim, 26, and Nicholas Rovinski, 26, to carry out an ISIS-inspired plot to behead New York political activist Pamela Geller and police officers. Rahim was shot dead by Boston police and federal agents when he confronted them with a knife two years ago.
Wright’s attorney, Jessica Hedges, described him dismissively in her closing argument as an “incredibly idiotic” and lonely “fanboy” of ISIS, whose video gaming morphed into a fantasy world of terrorist role-playing. She noted that his Google history also included searches on pies and actor Matthew Broderick.
“He was a complex human being, like most of us,” Hedges said. “But he is not what the government is making him out to be. He is not a terrorist. Never was ... This is what makes America America. We can speak our minds without being called a criminal for it.”
Siegmann, to underscore her point that Wright meant real harm, reminded jurors that Rahim had purchased knives for himself, Wright and Rovinski. Wright “was not a fanboy,” Siegmann said. “These were not fake knives. The First Amendment does not protect people for wanting to kill for ISIS.”
Rovinski pleaded guilty last year to conspiring to provide material support to ISIS and commit acts of terrorism in exchange for a 15- to 22-year sentence. He testified against Wright and is due to be sentenced Dec. 5.
‘He wanted to cause more harm to the United States than the Boston Marathon bombing.’ — B. STEPHANIE SIEGMANN Assistant U.S. attorney