A pair of north suburban men have been arrested for conspiring to provide support to the Islamic State, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Chicago.
Joseph D. Jones and Edward Schimenti, both 35 and of Zion, were arrested Wednesday morning and are set to appear in federal court Wednesday afternoon, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.
The men allegedly befriended two undercover FBI agents in the fall of 2015, as well as an individual cooperating with law enforcement who was not an ISIS supporter, according to the feds. Jones and Schimenti thought they were fellow ISIS devotees.
Jones and Schimenti allegedly shared photographs of themselves holding the Islamic State flag at the Illinois Beach State Park in Zion. Schimenti, also known as “Abdul Wali,” allegedly was caught on tape saying he would like to see the ISIS flag “on top of the White House.”
In March they gave several cell phones to the cooperating individual believing they would be used to detonate explosive devices in ISIS attacks, according to the feds. Jones, also known as “Yusuf Abdulhaqq” and Schimenti drove the cooperator to O’Hare on Friday, expecting that person to travel to Syria to fight with ISIS.
Schimenti told that person to “drench that land with they, they blood,” according to the feds.
–Chicago Sun-Times