US soldier, cousin arrested for trying to join ISIL terrorists

A US Army reserve soldier and his cousin have been arrested on charges of conspiring to support the ISIL terrorist group, according to the US Department of Justice.

The two Chicago area men, both US citizens, had allegedly planned to attack an Illinois military installation, the Justice Department said in a statement Thursday.

Army National Guard Specialist Hasan Edmonds, 22, was arrested by FBI agents at Chicago Midway International Airport as he was trying to fly to Cairo, Egypt, to fight on behalf of ISIL.

His cousin, Jonas Edmonds, 29, was arrested at his home in Aurora, Illinois.

Jonas Edmonds allegedly told an FBI undercover agent that they would use uniforms and information from Hasan Edmonds to carry out an armed attack against a northern Illinois military facility where Hasan Edmonds had been training.

“Disturbingly, one of the defendants currently wears the same uniform of those they allegedly planned to attack,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Carlin, in a statement.

If convicted, they face a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Last week, a US Air Force veteran, Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh, was arrested by the FBI for allegedly trying to join the ISIL terrorist group in Syria after watching their online propaganda videos.

The ISIL terrorists, many of whom were initially trained by the US Central Intelligence Agency in Jordan in 2012 to destabilize the Syrian government, now control parts of Iraq and neighboring Syria. They have been engaged in crimes against humanity in the areas under their control.