Judge Delays Ruling On Bail For Suspect In ISIS Case
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A Bolingbrook teenager accused of trying to travel to Syria to join ISIS terrorists must wait a couple more weeks before finding out if he'll be allowed out of a federal lockup.
WBBM Newsradio's Cisco Cotto reports, as family members looked on, 19-year-old Mohammed Hamzah Khan stood before U.S. District Judge Susan Cox, hoping she would allow him to post bail to go free while he awaits trial on a charge of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.
However, Cox postponed a ruling until Oct. 21, while federal prosecutors and defense attorney Tom Durkin debate whether certain documents in the case should be sealed from public view.
Durkin said all the documents in the case should be presented in open court.
"Some people think I may be overreacting, but that's my job. My job is to protect the Constitution, and my job is to protect the rule of law, and both of those won today," he said.
Federal prosecutors said sensitive information about minors is included in the documents it wants sealed, and their identities should be protected.
Durkin said, sealed or not, evidence in the case would show Khan didn't do what prosecutors claim.
"I think the evidence will show that he's a very sincere and dedicated person, but I don't think it's going to show that he was providing material support to terrorists," he said.
Khan was dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit and surrounded by U.S. Marshals Service deputies during his court appearance Thursday morning. He was due back in court Oct. 21.
Khan was arrested Saturday afternoon at O'Hare International Airport, as he was passing through a security checkpoint. Federal prosecutors have alleged he was planning to fly to Vienna, Austria, and then to Istanbul, Turkey, in order to make his way to the Syrian border to join the Islamic State terrorist group known as ISIS or ISIL.
After Khan was detained at O'Hare, federal agents obtained a warrant to search his home, where they allegedly found hand-written documents there that appeared to be drafted by Khan and/or others, expressing support for the Islamic State.
The notebook indicated Khan wanted to travel to Syrian border.
"We are the lions of War," Khan wrote. "My nation, the dawn has emerged."
The notebook also had a drawing of the ISIL flag.
Prosecutors said Khan also left his parents a three-page note, explaining his trip overseas, and advising them they should not contact the authorities.
"If this were to happen it will jeopardize not only the safety of us but our family as well," Khan allegedly wrote.
According to a copy of the charges, Khan was "upset that, as an adult, he was obligated to pay taxes that would be used to kill his 'Muslim brothers and sisters,'" and was angry about "the decline of Western societies."
"We are all witness that the western societies are getting more immoral day by day. I do not want my kids being exposed to filth like this," he allegedly wrote. "I extend an invitation, to my family, to join me in the Islamic State."
Durkin said Khan's parents were not aware of his travel plans, and did not see the letter he wrote to them until federal agents found it while searching their home in southwest suburban Bolingbrook.