ICYMI: Rolling Stone Spotlights Senators Hassan & Britt Sounding Alarm on Potential Terrorist Threats Following Release of Convicted American Taliban Fighter John Walker Lindh
Public Reporting Shows Lindh Violated His Parole by Meeting Multiple Times with Convicted ISIS Supporter After His Release from Prison
WASHINGTON – In case you missed it, Rolling Stone covered U.S. Senators Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Katie Britt (R-AL) calling for answers about reports that convicted American Taliban fighter John Walker Lindh, who was released from prison three years early, violated a condition of his parole by meeting multiple times with convicted ISIS supporter, Ali Amin. In 2019, prior to Lindh’s release, Senator Hassan joined then-Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) in raising the alarm about Lindh’s anticipated early release from prison. Lindh was captured in Afghanistan in 2001, and the following year pled guilty to serving as a soldier of the Taliban and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
To read coverage highlights from Rolling Stone, read below or click here for the full article.
Rolling Stone: Senators Demand Answers on ‘American Taliban’ Meeting With ISIS Supporter
By Adam Rawnsley
TWO SENATORS ARE asking the Justice Department how “American Taliban” John Walker Lindh was able to meet with a convicted ISIS supporter in full view of the FBI while out on parole.
In a letter obtained by Rolling Stone, Sens. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) and Katie Britt (R-Ala.) wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland to “express concern over the federal government’s ability to monitor and prevent threats to public safety from people convicted of terrorism-related crimes upon their release from federal custody.”
Hassan and Britt also ask the Justice Department to provide answers on whether Lindh met with any other known extremists and how it handled the discovery of his apparent parole violation. The two also state their concern that “compartmentalized information between Department of Justice agencies may have prevented authorities from taking appropriate action” in Lindh’s case.
[…] In their letter, Hassan and Britt note that the Justice Department has indicated that “more than 100 individuals convicted of terrorism-related crimes would be released from federal prisons by 2025” and ask Garland whether “any other released terrorist offenders” have associated with known extremists while out on parole.
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