Virginia teen gets 11 years for supporting Islamic State

[DonViejo]

Source: Reuters

A Virginia teenager who used social media to support the militant group Islamic State was sentenced to just over 11 years in federal prison on Friday, the U.S. Justice Department said.

Ali Amin, 17, of Manassas, was the first minor prosecuted by the United States in such a case. U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton handed down a 136-month sentence in a hearing in Alexandria, Virginia, the department said in a statement.

“Today’s sentencing demonstrates that those who use social media as a tool to provide support and resources to ISIL will be identified and prosecuted with no less vigilance than those who travel to take up arms with ISIL,” U.S. Attorney Dana Boente said, using an acronym for the militant group.

Amin, who used the Twitter handle @Amreekiwitness, pleaded guilty in June to using Twitter and his blog to show how to use the virtual currency Bitcoin to send funds to the militants.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/2015/08/virginia-teen-gets-11-years-for-supporting-islamic-state/

[Heinz_Golderian]

1. Telling people how to use bitcoin can get you over a decade in prison?

What kind of jail terms are they handing out of the people that delivered U.S. taxpayer funded weapons to the Middle East that end up in the hands of ISIL?

[DonViejo]

2. No. Telling people how to use bitcoin to make a donation to ISIL is against the law...

the last sentence in the article, above:

Amin, who used the Twitter handle @Amreekiwitness, pleaded guilty in June to using Twitter and his blog to show how to use the virtual currency Bitcoin to send funds to the militants.

[Blue_Tires]

5. Laws against funding terrorism are pretty well laid out...

[GOLGO 13]

3. I see no problem here.

Slam dunk for the good guys.

[Yo_Mama]

9. For a teenager the sentence should be shorter, but this is a serious crime.

I think about WHAT was being supported, and I shudder.

What kind of person is this teenager? No one can fairly claim they don't know about the slavery, the beatings, the torture-murders, the execution of gay people, the rape, the slavery, and the abuse of young children.

[Coventina]

4. K&R

[FLPanhandle]

6. Good.

Maybe it'll make others think twice before helping murderous raping assholes.

[d_legendary1]

7. 11 years? Those terror laws don't play!

Don't support terrorism!

[Syzygy321]

8. I am of two minds about tough sentences for

ISIS kids.

On one hand, it's no joke to sponsor murderous madmen or to lure others off to their bloody deaths. So it should be punished severely.

OTOH, It's normal for kids to get fired up about adventure and idealism and wanting to change the world, and to romanticize reality and latch on to Grand Causes. And to be easily manipulated and played by expert handlers.

So, they're terrorists. But also, they're just kids.

I dunno. As with most things, I don't see one right answer.