Feds charge 19-year-old Pa. man with helping ISIS on Twitter

Federal prosecutors say a 19-year-old Pennsylvania man used social media to assist the Islamic State.

Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin announced the arrest Thursday of Jalil Ibn Ameer Aziz, an American citizen and Harrisburg resident. Carlin allegedthat Aziz “conspired to provide and attempted to provide material support to ISIL by propagating their hateful rhetoric on social media.”

Carlin added that Aziz allegedlyhelped ISIS sympathizers “in their pursuit of traveling overseas to join the designated foreign terrorist organization.”

Prosecutors said that Aziz used at least 57 different Twitter accounts to “advocate violence against the United States and its citizens, to disseminate ISIL propaganda and espouse pro-ISIL views.”

Authorities allegedthat when they searched Aziz’s residence, they found a backpack in a closet containing “five loaded M4-style high-capacity magazines, a modified kitchen knife, a thumb drive, medication and a balaclava.”

Aziz faces several charges, including conspiring and attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).