WASHINGTON, Dec. 9 (UPI) — The Department of Justice indicted a man from Ohio on Tuesday for soliciting the murder of U.S. military members, including the Navy SEAL who presumably killed Osama Bin Laden.
Terrence J. McNeil, 25, was indicted on three counts of solicitation of a crime of violence and three counts of threatening military personnel, according to the Justice Department. He was arrested on Nov. 12 on federal charges that he solicited the murder of U.S. military members.
The indictment said that McNeil used social media accounts, including Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr, to assert support for the Islamic State, also known as Daesh, ISIS and ISIL.
“While we aggressively defend First Amendment rights, the individual arrested went far beyond free speech by reposting names and addresses of 100 U.S. service members, all with the intent to have them killed,” Special Agent in Charge Stephen D. Anthony of the FBI’s Cleveland Division said in a statement.
On his Tumblr account in late September, McNeil reblogged content that showed photographs of apparent U.S. military personnel along with their names, addresses and the military branch which they served, according to the indictment. The final image in a series showed a handgun and a knife accompanied with text that said: “…and kill them wherever you find them.”
On his Twitter account in early October, McNeil posted a message and website link that revealed the apparent address of Navy SEAL Robert O’Neill, widely credited as the man who fatally shot Osama Bin Laden.
“I am posting his address to brothers & to al-Qaida in the U.S. as a number one target,” the website read, according to the indictment.
McNeil also posted the same content about O’Neill on his Tumblr, adding to it the statement: “don’t let this kafir sleep peacefully.”
If convicted, McNeil’s sentence will be determined after a court reviews multiple factors unique to this case. Each solicitation count carries a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and each threat count carries a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison.
“According to the indictment, solicited the murder of members of our military by disseminating ISIL’s violent rhetoric, circulating detailed U.S. military personnel information and explicitly calling for the killing of American service members in their homes and communities,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin said in a statement. “ISIL and its followers continue to use social media in an attempt to incite violence around the world, including in the United States.”
