A Sheffield Lake, Ohio, man who bought an AK-47 to support the Islamic State testified Thursday that comments made by a man standing trial in another terrorism case during an online chat in 2015 worried him.
Amir Al-Ghazi said a man behind the Twitter account @sham_reason direct messaged him in March, 25, 2015 and told him to use an encrypted app to prevent law enforcement from reading their chats.
Federal prosecutors say Erick Jamal Hendricks is the man behind @sham_reason. He is on trial for two terrorism charges in a federal court in Akron. Testimony began Thursday, and Al-Ghazi was the government’s second witness.
Using the app ChatSecure, the man behind @sham_reason — this time using the handle “Abu Harb” — asked whether Al-Ghazi was “willing to wage jihad on the kuffar,” or attack non-Muslims, and spoke of recruiting plans, Al-Ghazi testified upon questioning from Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Shepherd.
