NYTimes | Two
months later, the affidavit says, an F.B.I. employee identified her
“through social media platforms” as a supporter of the Islamic State,
also known as ISIS or ISIL.
The
court document describes how two F.B.I. employees, posing as supporters
of the terrorist group, engaged the couple in a long online courtship
in which they repeatedly stated their desire to join the militants. Ms.
Young wrote that she might be able to offer “medical aid” to the cause.
Mr. Dakhlalla wrote that he was “willing to fight.”
But
their messages were full of concerns. Mr. Dakhlalla wondered if he
would be placed with other English-speaking recruits. Ms. Young was
frustrated that family and community members in Starkville did not
support the Islamic State. She also confessed that she had never
traveled outside the United States. “I need help crossing from Turkey to
Syria with my hijjrah partner,” Ms. Young wrote in early June, using
the Arabic word for “emigration” or “journey.”
Ms.
Young said they would leave under the pretense of being “newlyweds on
our honeymoon.” On June 6, the couple performed an Islamic marriage
ceremony. Mr. Harmon said that for the marriage to be valid under
Islamic law, Ms. Young’s father was required to sign a contract. But the
father, a police officer who friends say served in the United States
military in Afghanistan, refused to do so.
After
their arrest, the affidavit states, the couple confessed that they were
on their way to join the Islamic State. On Tuesday, a federal
magistrate in Oxford, Miss., ordered them held without bail, citing
their methodical planning. They each face up to 20 years in prison on
the charge of attempting and conspiring to knowingly provide material
support and resources to a foreign terrorist organization.
