American who killed for ISIS convicted, faces life sentence
A federal jury yesterday convicted a U.S. citizen Ruslan Maratovich Asainov, 46, of providing material support to ISIS that led to the death of one or more persons.
The jury convicted him of all five counts of an indictment charging him with conspiracy to provide material support to ISIS, providing material support to ISIS in the form of personnel, training, expert advice, and assistance, receipt of military-type training from ISIS, and obstruction of justice.
“As proven at trial, Asainov was a member of ISIS who was so committed to the terrorist organization’s evil cause that he abandoned his young family here in Brooklyn, New York, to make an extraordinary journey to the battlefield in Syria where he became a lethal sniper and trained many others to kill their adversaries, and even after being captured still pledged his allegiance to ISIS’ murderous path,” said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York.
The Assistant Attorney General for National Security, Matthew G. Olsen, stated that Mr Asainov travelled abroad to kill and train others to kill on behalf of ISIS.
According to the United States Department of Justice, Mr Asainov converted to Islam in 2009 and got involved with Islamic extremism. In 2013 he abandoned his wife and daughter in Brooklyn and travelled to Turkey seeking to obtain entry into Syria.
In Syria, Mr Asainov spent approximately five years fighting against ISIS enemies in various battles. He received training in how to use automatic rifles, machine guns, and rocket-propelled grenades. He volunteered to be trained as a sniper and eventually became a sniper trainer training up to 100 students.
He was captured in Syria, where he admitted to agents of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force that he had fought in numerous battles for ISIS as a warrior and a sniper.
Mr Asainov faces up to life in prison when sentenced.
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