Source: Office of United States Attorneys
RALEIGH, N.C. – U.S. Attorney Michael F. Easley, Jr., announced today the unsealing of a criminal complaint against a Durham man charged with attempting to provide material support to ISIS, a designated foreign terrorist organization. Alexander Justin White, age 29, was arrested on Wednesday, December 4, 2024, as he was preparing to board an international flight from RDU Airport to Morocco. The complaint alleges that White was traveling overseas intent on joining ISIS. If convicted, White faces up to 20 years in prison.
As alleged in the complaint, between May and October of 2024, White used an online account under the name “Sulaiman Al-Amriki” to make numerous posts supporting ISIS and the concept of violent jihad. This allegedly included videos commonly used to recruit new members and to generate a passion for fighting as well as fundraising videos and several posts and reposts in reference to well-known ISIS supporters and scholars. The complaint alleges that White’s online communications with like-minded individuals displayed an active effort to find a way to join ISIS overseas so that he could become a mujahideen with ISIS. In addition, the complaint alleges that White was engaged in financial transactions to refugee camps which are well known for acting as a front to funnel money to ISIS members and their supporters. White allegedly made online comments noting that he regretted not having traveled to join ISIS earlier, when it may have been easier through certain overseas routes which were now viewed suspiciously. Believing that his opportunity had come to fruition, White allegedly took steps to make his intended travel appear as nothing more than a vacation when he in fact claimed that he would rather die than return to the United States. After allegedly making various preparations, to include purchasing a personal combat medical kit, on December 4, White made efforts to board a flight bound for Morocco which he intended to use as a jumping point from which to join ISIS members in Africa.
“We work closely with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force to shut down suspected terrorist activities in the United States, including American citizens willing to commit violence against our troops,” said U.S. Attorney Michael F. Easley, Jr. “We couldn’t do our work without strong local partners, willing to share their resources to protect our homeland.”
“The FBI Joint Terrorism Task Forces across the country leverage the resources, skills, and authorities of our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners to identify and combat terrorism threats, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In many ways, our JTTFs are our nation’s first line of defense against terrorism. The threats we face are bigger than any one law enforcement or intelligence agency can tackle, requiring not only a law enforcement partnership, but working with our communities to keep people safe,” said Robert M. DeWitt, the Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in North Carolina. The investigation into White is a result of the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Raleigh-based Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). The JTTF is a group of highly trained, locally based investigators, analysts, linguists, and other specialists from dozens of U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies that gather evidence, make arrests, provide security for special events, collect and share intelligence, and respond to threats and incidents at a moment’s notice. There are about 200 JTTFs across the country, including one in each field office, with hundreds of participating state, local and federal agencies.
The Raleigh-based JTTF includes the Cary, Raleigh, and Durham Police Departments, the Wake County Sheriff’s Office, the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation, the N.C. State Highway Patrol, and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service. Critical to this case was also the assistance of the Morocco General Directorate for Territorial Surveillance (DGST).
Michael F. Easley Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement. The FBI JTTF is investigating the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney’s Gabe Diaz and Jason Kellhofer, along with Trial Attorney David Andrew Sigler from the Department of Justice’s Counterterrorism Section, are prosecuting the case.
Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for case number 5:25-CR-00009-M.
A criminal complaint is merely an accusation. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.