Man who came to Maine as refugee killed fighting for Islamic State
An Iranian man who came to Maine as a refugee in 2009 was fighting for the Islamic State when he was killed last year in Lebanon, the Portland Press Herald reports.
Newly unsealed federal court documents obtained by the paper revealed the FBI began investigating Freeport resident Adnan Fazeli, 38, just after he left his job in Portland to fly to Turkey in August 2013, according to the Press Herald.
Fazeli’s nephew, Ebrahim Fazeli, told the Press Herald he informed the FBI about his uncle after he called the family from Turkey. He told the paper that while his uncle became more religious and grew a beard, no one in the family realized he’d become radicalized. He said the family only learned of his uncle’s trip overseas when he contacted them from abroad, according to the Press Herald.
An FBI investigation into whether others were aware of his plans to fight for the Islamic State, helped him travel abroad, or supported his efforts concluded with no criminal charges, the Press Herald reports.
Reza Jalali, coordinator of Multicultural Student Affairs at University of Maine, where Fazeli took courses in 2010 and 2011, told the Press Herald he was shocked by the news.
“How he could go through that transformation, that’s a mystery,” he told the paper. “That’s quite heartbreaking. It reminds us of the power of social media, brainwashing bright, educated men and turn them into fighters or killers.”
Read the full report at the Press Herald.
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