A North Carolina man has been charged with providing material support to ISIS after he allegedly planned to travel to Morocco in December 2024 to join a foreign terrorist organization (FTO), according to federal court documents.
Alexander Justin White, 29, from Durham, he allegedly used social media — primarily Facebook and encrypted messaging apps (EMA) — to “post about support for ISIS and jihad” and communicated with other ISIS supporters about wanting to join the FTO.
In those communications, White, using the pseudonym “Sulaiman Al-Amriki,” unwittingly conducted online conversations with an undercover FBI agent, authorities said.
“WHITE openly discussed his desire and intent to travel overseas to join ISIS with various individuals on Facebook and through EMA,” the federal complaint states.
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Alexander Justin White, 29, of Durham, North Carolina, allegedly used social media to “post support for ISIS and jihad” and communicated with other ISIS supporters about wanting to join the terrorist group. (FBI)
The suspect’s “numerous conversations via the Internet with various people, as well as his communication with [FBI confidential human source] and [FBI Online Covert Employee] demonstrated a long-standing intent and desire to join ISIS which he prepared for and attempted on December 4, 2024,” the complaint states. “He expressly confirmed awareness of ISIS as a designated FTO and repeatedly expressed concern about that he would be caught by the police and the efforts he took to avoid capture.”
In his conversations with the secret agent, White said that his “heart starts beating fast… [from] good thrill” when he considered traveling for ISIS.
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Alexander Justin White sent a video of himself expressing support for ISIS to an undercover agent, authorities said. (FBI)
In September 2024, an undercover agent asked White if he was “okay”. killing members of the US military or other US citizens,” to which White allegedly replied, “…If it was a family member, I’d still fight them … No US troops [sic] love of country or any of these [sic]”, the complaint states.
The suspect allegedly said that he owns several firearms and knows how to use them. A photo included in the report shows White firing a gun at a shooting range in July 2024.
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Alexander Justin White allegedly said he had multiple firearms and knew how to use them. A photo included in the report shows White firing a gun at a shooting range in July 2024. (FBI)
White also reportedly described having vivid dreams of fighting for ISIS with the agent.
The suspect had been communicating online with an undercover agent for months about planning a trip to Morocco to support ISIS. He fulfilled those plans late last year, when he booked a flight from Raleigh to Rabat, Morocco, on Dec. 4, authorities said.
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Federal agents arrested him that day after he checked in for his flight, went through a security checkpoint at Raleigh-Durham International Airport and tried to “make his way onto the plane,” according to court documents.
FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on December 5, 2023 in Washington, DC (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Authorities said they seized nearly $7,000 from White on the day of his arrest and seized multiple firearms from his Durham apartment.
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White’s arrest comes after FBI Director Christopher Wray said he had left “60 minutes” in an interview Sunday that ISIS supporters are inspired by “by far” the “most challenging type of terrorist threat we face” when asked about the Jan. 1 terror attack in New Orleans that killed 15 people, including Texas-born terrorist Shamsud-Din Jabbar.
“You’re talking about guys like this, who are radicalized not over years but weeks, and whose method of attack is still very lethal, but quite crude,” Wray said. “And if you think about that old saying about connecting the dots, there aren’t many dots to connect. And very little time to connect them.”
White’s attorney, Chris Locascio, was not immediately available for comment.
