FBI asks public to help identify homegrown terrorists

Chicago Tribune | October 7, 2014

One day after a Bolingbrook teen was accused in federal court in Chicago of plotting to travel to the Middle East and join Islamic State, the FBI is asking for the public's help to identify other individuals who have traveled — or are planning to travel — overseas to fight alongside terrorist organizations.

"We need the public's assistance in identifying U.S. persons going to fight overseas with terrorist groups or who are returning home from fighting overseas," Michael Steinbach, assistant director of the FBI's Counterterrorism Division, said in a statement posted Tuesday afternoon on the bureau's website.

The posting also asked for information on the identity of an English-speaking man and others seen in a propaganda video released last month by Islamic State.

In the 55-minute video, a masked man alternates between English and Arabic in pro-Islamic State pronouncements that are intended to appeal to a Western audience, the FBI said.

"Dressed in desert camouflage and wearing a shoulder holster, the masked man can be seen standing in front of purported prisoners as they dig their own graves and then later presiding over their executions," the FBI said. His accent is believed to be North American.

"We're hoping that someone might recognize this individual and provide us with key pieces of information," Steinbach said. "No piece of information is too small."

Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-fbi-terrorism-help-met-20141007-story.html