Seattle man arrested at airport for allegedly trying to join ISIS

A man was arrested at a Seattle airport last Friday for allegedly trying to leave the country to join the terrorist group ISIS, according to a statement from the Justice Department (DOJ). 

In the DOJ statement released Tuesday, authorities announced they had arrested Elvin Hunter Bgorn Williams as he was preparing to board an international flight with the intention of joining ISIS.

In May, Williams, 20, booked flights from Seattle to Amsterdam and en route to Egypt, where he planned to join the terrorist organization, the DOJ said.

The FBI was first tipped by a Seattle area-mosque in November 2020 of Willliams’s intentions to possibly join the terrorist group, telling authorities that he used mosque-provided electronic devices to engage in online chatrooms with the terrorist organization and viewed propaganda video clips as well, according to a DOJ court document.

The FBI then used confidential sources to monitor Williams’s activity. He was arrested at the departure gate of Sea-Tac Airport.

The Justice Department also alleges that Williams told ISIS associates that if he couldn’t join the group overseas, he would be willing to commit a terror attack on U.S. soil.

Williams was charged with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted, according to the DOJ statement.