2 Suburban Chicago Men Accused Of Conspiring To Support ISIS

By Stephen Gossett in News on Apr 12, 2017 6:38PM

Department of Justice

Two men from the suburbs of Chicago have been charged with conspiring to provide material support to ISIS.

Joseph Jones, 35, and Edward Schimenti, 35, both of Zion, Illinois, were arrested on Wednesday morning and are accused of "conspiring to knowingly provide and attempt to provide material support and resources," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Jones and Schimenti pledged allegiance to the terrorist organization and shared photos with undercover agents that showed them holding the Islamic State flag at the Illinois Beach State Park, in Zion, according to the complaint.

The US Attorney's Office said:

"In the fall of 2015 the pair befriended three individuals whom Jones and Schimenti believed were fellow ISIS devotees. Unbeknownst to Jones and Schimenti, two of the individuals were undercover FBI employees and the third individual was cooperating with law enforcement and was not an ISIS supporter."

The complaint alleges that Schimenti, who was also known as Abdul Wali, trained at a Zion gym with a cooperating source who he thought was heading overseas to join ISIS, saying the training would “make you good, you know, in the battlefield.”

Both men gave the source cellphones that they thought would be used as explosives detonators; and earlier this month, they drove to O'Hare International Airport believing they were dropping off a person to fly to Syria to join the Islamic State, telling the informant to “drench that land with they, they blood,” according to the complaint.

Jones (who is also known as Yusuf Abdulhaqq) and Schimenti are scheduled to appear before a federal judge at 3 p.m. on Wednesday.