providing material support for terrorism

The material support provisions have been criticized by rights groups as violating the First Amendment, as they criminalize activities like the distribution of literature, engaging in political advocacy, participating in peace conferences, training in human rights advocacy, and donating money and humanitarian assistance, even when the support is intended only to promote lawful and non-violent activities.{{Cite web |url=http://ccrjustice.org/learn-more/faqs/factsheet%3A-material-support |title=Factsheet: Material Support | Center for Constitutional Rights |access-date=2014-07-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140630062432/http://ccrjustice.org/learn-more/faqs/factsheet%3A-material-support |archive-date=2014-06-30 |url-status=live }} The provisions are vague and wide-ranging, and impose guilt by association by punishing people not for their own acts but for the acts of those they have supported. The Secretary of State's power to designate groups as terrorist has also been criticized as being too broad, giving the Executive too much discretionary power to label groups as "terrorist" and criminalize their supporters. The American Civil Liberties Union note that: "Federal 'material support' and conspiracy statutes allow the government to secure convictions without having to show that any specific act of terrorism has taken place, or is being planned, or even that a defendant intended to further terrorism."{{Cite web |url=https://www.aclu.org/files/assets/acalltocourage.pdf |title=A call to courage |access-date=2014-07-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140806161052/https://www.aclu.org/files/assets/acalltocourage.pdf |archive-date=2014-08-06 |url-status=live }}

David D. Cole, in his book Terrorism and the Constitution, stated that:

{{blockquote|... after lying virtually dormant for its first six years of existence, the material support law has since 9/11 become the Justice Department's most popular charge in antiterrorism cases. The allure is easy to see: convictions under the law require no proof that the defendant engaged in terrorism, aided or abetted terrorism, or conspired to commit terrorism. But what makes the law attractive to prosecutors—its sweeping ambit—is precisely what makes it so dangerous to civil liberties.David Cole and James X. Dempsey (2006) Terrorism and the Constitution: Sacrificing Civil Liberties in the Name of National Security (New Press)}}

Professor Jeanne Theoharis describes the measures in equally critical terms:

{{blockquote|Material support laws are the black box of domestic terrorism prosecutions, a shape-shifting space into which all sorts of constitutionally protected activities can be thrown and classified as suspect, if not criminal. Their vagueness is key. They criminalize guilt by association and often use political and religious beliefs to demonstrate intent and state of mind.{{cite web |last=Theoharis |first=Jeanne |url=http://www.progressive.org/mp/theoharis030110.html |title=U.S. citizen's solitary confinement raises serious questions |publisher=Progressive.org |date=2010-03-01 |access-date=2017-08-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304050324/http://www.progressive.org/mp/theoharis030110.html |archive-date=2016-03-04 |url-status=live }}}}

US Senator Patrick Leahy sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton regarding humanitarian relief in Somalia in 2011. "I have long urged reform of our laws governing so-called material support for terrorism. The current law is so broad as to be unworkable. Aid workers trying to provide relief to starving Somalis fear they could be prosecuted if some of it were to end up in the hands of al-Shabaab, an al-Qaeda affiliate that controls parts of Somalia. And so while the situation in Somalia grows more desperate each day, with children dying needlessly, the delivery of food and medicines is hampered, first by al-Shabaab, which is denying access to broad swaths of Somali territory, and secondly, by our overly restrictive laws. The Secretary of State has the power to grant exemptions where the purpose is not to engage in terrorist activity. She should use that authority immediately to ensure aid can reach as many Somalis as possible."{{cite web |url=http://www.leahy.senate.gov/press/comment-of-senator-patrick-leahy-on-application-of-material-support-laws-to-humanitarian-relief-in-somalia |title=Press Release | Press Releases | Press | U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont |publisher=Leahy.senate.gov |date=2012-09-27 |access-date=2017-08-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161211044911/https://www.leahy.senate.gov/press/comment-of-senator-patrick-leahy-on-application-of-material-support-laws-to-humanitarian-relief-in-somalia |archive-date=2016-12-11 |url-status=live }}

{{expand section|More details & references|date=April 2011}}

The following people have been charged or convicted of providing material support for terrorism under this law.

• David Hicks, a former Guantanamo detainee who pleaded guilty in 2007 and served a sentence of less than one year in Australia, before his case was thrown out as a court found the crime is not a war crime and cannot be tried by a military court.{{cite web|url=https://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/26350198/us-court-tosses-australians-guantanamo-conviction/|title=US court tosses Australian's Guantanamo conviction|date=19 Feb 2015|publisher=7 News|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150224220420/https://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/26350198/us-court-tosses-australians-guantanamo-conviction/|archive-date=2015-02-24}}
• Zachary Adam Chesser, who pleaded guilty to communicating death threats to South Park directors Trey Parker and Matt Stone, soliciting violent jihadists to "desensitize" law enforcement, and attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
• John Walker Lindh, who was captured fighting for the Taliban during the Battle of Qala-i-Jangi, one of the first battles in the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan. He was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison on various charges.
• Lynne Stewart, a 70-year-old veteran civil rights lawyer who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for transmitting information from her imprisoned client Omar Abdel-Rahman to his accomplices.{{cite news |url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/attorney_who_helped_terrorist_gets_PYGIvliTgsFfDjH8DWkVTJ |title=Attorney who helped terrorist gets 10 years in prison |newspaper=New York Post |date=15 July 2010 |access-date=3 December 2010}}
• Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a former Guantanamo detainee who was Osama bin Laden's former driver. He was convicted in 2008 and served a sentence of less than one year in Yemen.{{cite news |date=2007-06-05 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/guantanamo/story/0,,2095889,00.html|title=Profile: Salim Ahmed Hamdan|work=The Guardian|access-date=2007-08-01 |first=Mark |last=Tran |location=London}} See {{usc|8|2339B}}.
• Mohammed Abdullah Warsame, who attended the al Farouq training camp in 2000.{{cite news |url=http://minneapolis.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel09/mp052009b.htm |title=Minneapolis Man Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Provide Material Support to al Qaeda |date=2009-05-20

|quote=According to the plea agreement, from about March 2000 through at least December 2003, Warsame conspired with others to provide material support to al Qaeda in the form of personnel, training, and currency. Specifically, in March 2000, Warsame traveled to Afghanistan where he attended an al Qaeda training camp outside Kabul. In the summer of 2000, he then traveled to the al Faruq training camp, where he received further training and met Osama Bin Laden. Warsame subsequently worked at an al Qaeda guesthouse and clinic. |publisher=Federal Bureau of Investigation |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090523110505/http://minneapolis.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel09/mp052009b.htm |archive-date=2009-05-23 |url-status=dead }}{{cite news |url=http://minneapolis.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel09/mp070909.htm |title=Minneapolis Man Sentenced for Conspiracy to Provide Material Support to al Qaeda |date=2009-07-09 |publisher=Federal Bureau of Investigation |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090815093632/http://minneapolis.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel09/mp070909.htm |archive-date=2009-08-15 |url-status=dead }}

• David Headley, for his role in the 2008 Mumbai attacks.{{cite web|last=Tarm|first=Michael|title=American Mumbai Plotter Sentenced to 35 Years|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/american-mumbai-plotter-sentenced-chicago-18299695|agency=Associated Press|publisher=ABC News|access-date=24 January 2013|author2=Sophia Tareen|date=24 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130131130637/https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/american-mumbai-plotter-sentenced-chicago-18299695|archive-date=2013-01-31|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Sweeney|first=Annie|title=Chicago man gets 35 years in Mumbai terror attack|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-sentencing-today-for-chicago-man-in-mumbai-terror-attack-20130124,0,3301876.story|access-date=24 January 2013|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=24 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130124183315/http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-sentencing-today-for-chicago-man-in-mumbai-terror-attack-20130124,0,3301876.story|archive-date=2013-01-24|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=David Headley has no right to live: relative of 26/11 US victims|url=http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/david-headley-has-no-right-to-live-relative-of-26-11-us-victims-321980|work=Press Trust of India appearing on NDTV.com|access-date=24 January 2013|date=24 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130125001724/http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/david-headley-has-no-right-to-live-relative-of-26-11-us-victims-321980|archive-date=2013-01-25|url-status=live}}
• Tarek Mehanna, convicted of providing "material support" to al-Qaida, for translating books and videos for website At Tibyan, encouraging readers to join al-Qaida and kill American soldiers in Iraq, sentenced to 210 months.[https://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2014/09/mehanna_at_the_supreme_court_is_translating_jihad_texts_a_crime.html Translating Terrorism: Is publishing radical Islamic texts on the Internet a crime?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904111756/http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2014/09/mehanna_at_the_supreme_court_is_translating_jihad_texts_a_crime.html |date=2014-09-04 }} By Mark Joseph Stern, Slate, Sept. 3, 2014

In September 2010, the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided activists in Minneapolis and Chicago, seizing computers, cell phones and files and issuing subpoenas to some targeted individuals to appear before a federal grand jury. The FBI agents were seeking evidence of ties to foreign terrorist organizations, including the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.Colin Moynihan, [https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/25/us/politics/25search.html F.B.I. Searches Antiwar Activists' Homes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170225235839/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/25/us/politics/25search.html |date=2017-02-25 }}, New York Times, September 24, 2010[http://tc.indymedia.org/files/kelly-warrant-92210.pdf Search warrant] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101008225309/http://tc.indymedia.org/files/kelly-warrant-92210.pdf |date=2010-10-08 }} and [http://tc.indymedia.org/files/kelly-subpoena-chicago-92210.pdf subpoena] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101008115020/http://tc.indymedia.org/files/kelly-subpoena-chicago-92210.pdf |date=2010-10-08 }} (Indymedia) Attorneys linked the raids to the Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project decision.Sheila Regan, [http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/news/2010/09/24/fbi-raids-activist-homes-minneapolis-chicago FBI raids activist homes in Minneapolis, Chicago] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110119193553/http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/news/2010/09/24/fbi-raids-activist-homes-minneapolis-chicago |date=2011-01-19 }}, Twin Cities Daily Planet, September 24, 2010.[https://www.foxnews.com/us/activists-to-protest-recent-fbi-raids-on-anti-war-members/ Activists to Protest Recent FBI Raids on Anti-War Members], Associated Press, September 24, 2010.

in January 2016, social networking service Twitter was sued by the widow of a U.S. man killed in the Amman shooting attack, claiming that allowing ISIL to use the platform constituted material support of a terrorist organization.{{cite news|title=Lawsuit Blames Twitter for ISIS Terrorist Attack|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2016/01/14/lawsuit-blames-twitter-for-isis-terrorist-attack/|access-date=16 January 2016|work=Wall Street Journal|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160117151034/http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2016/01/14/lawsuit-blames-twitter-for-isis-terrorist-attack/|archive-date=2016-01-17|url-status=live}} The lawsuit was dismissed under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which dictates that the operators of an interactive computer service are not liable for content published on the service by others.{{cite web|title=Twitter is not legally responsible for the rise of ISIS, rules California district court|url=https://www.theverge.com/2016/8/10/11950098/twitter-isis-lawsuit-safe-harbor-terrorism|website=The Verge|date=August 10, 2016 |publisher=Vox Media|access-date=11 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160810214853/http://www.theverge.com/2016/8/10/11950098/twitter-isis-lawsuit-safe-harbor-terrorism|archive-date=2016-08-10|url-status=live}}

During the Syrian Civil War a naturalized U.S. citizen of Bosnian origin joined ISIL and died while fighting. In 2015, six Bosnian residents of the U.S. were charged with providing material support for terrorism.{{cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/02/06/terror-charges-syria/23013981/|title=Feds lodge terror charges against six|work=USA Today|access-date=2019-01-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180715212201/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/02/06/terror-charges-syria/23013981/|archive-date=2018-07-15|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.counterextremism.com/extremists/abdullah-ramo-pazara|title=Abdullah Ramo Pazara|date=13 November 2015|access-date=2019-01-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170930084201/https://www.counterextremism.com/extremists/abdullah-ramo-pazara|archive-date=2017-09-30|url-status=live}} The six sent funds ranging from $150 to $1,850, and also "U.S. military uniforms, tactical clothes and gear, combat boots, military surplus supplies and other items from businesses in St. Louis" in August 2013.{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-terror-arrest-20150208-story.html|title=6 Bosnian immigrants indicted in alleged overseas terror financing ring|first=Samantha|last=Masunaga|date=8 February 2015|via=LA Times|access-date=2019-01-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170930131450/http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-terror-arrest-20150208-story.html|archive-date=2017-09-30|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://abc7chicago.com/news/suburban-mom-claims-combatant-immunity-in-terror-case/2240473/|title=Suburban mom claims 'combatant immunity' in terror case|first=Chuck|last=Goudie|date=21 July 2017|publisher=ABC 7|access-date=2019-01-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181206213631/https://abc7chicago.com/news/suburban-mom-claims-combatant-immunity-in-terror-case/2240473/|archive-date=2018-12-06|url-status=live}}

• Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act
• Terrorism Act 2006

{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Providing Material Support For Terrorism}}

Category:Patriot Act

Category:Terrorism in the United States