13. In what appeared to be a common room, agents recovered a handwritten notebook, which includes the following:

a. A page that contains the word “Purchased” with the following steps listed below: “(1) $4,000.00 ticket to Istanbul Cred,” “(2) supplies via credit card,” “(3) cash for hotel in Istanbul $(70),” “(4) bus ride to Esekir ($),” “(5) Esekir > Koya > Adana,”2 “(6) get in touch with” a list of four individuals, including Individual C,3 “(7) Most likely go to Urfa.”4 Above this list was a drawing of what appeared to be the United States and Turkey. That drawing included an arrow from the United States to northwest Turkey, two arrows across Turkey, and one arrow pointing across what appeared to be the border of Turkey and Syria or Iraq. Also on this page were the following words (in Arabic): “Al-Raqqah Province. In the Islamic State in Iraq and Levant. Abu-‘Ikasha Al-Amriki. For the Islamic State in Iraq and Levant.”

b. A page with a drawing and the following words (in Arabic): “The Commander of the Ranks under Abu-Bakir Al-Baghdadi, Abu-Mariyah Al-Hariri, the Commander of the Ranks.”

c. A page that included the following words (in Arabic): “Islamic State in Iraq and Levant. Here to stay. We are the lions of the war [unintelligible]. My nation, the dawn has emerged.”

d. A page with drawings that appeared to depict the ISIL flag and that of another designated foreign terrorist organization.

e. One page in the notebook had a drawing of what appeared to be an armed fighter with an ISIL flag behind him. Above and below these drawings were the words in Arabic: “Come to Jihad.”5 f. Different pages containing the handwritten names of “Hamza Khan” and that of another person.

14. In what appeared to be a living room, agents recovered a calendar book with various handwritten notations, including a drawing of what appeared to be the ISIL flag and written references (in Arabic) to “the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant,” “Abu Bakir Al-Baghdadi,” and Individual C, as well as killing a “Nusayri [Alawite].”6


15. In a bedroom identified by KHAN’s parents as belonging to KHAN and a sibling agents recovered, among other things, a handwritten, 3-page letter, which appears to have been written by KHAN and left for his parents to explain his October 4, 2014 travel. In summary, in the letter, which is signed “Your loving son, Hamza [KHAN’s middle name],” KHAN advised his parents that: (i) they should not contact the “authorities” about his trip (“FIRST and FOREMOST, PLEASE MAKE SURE TO NOT TELL THE AUTHORITIES For if this were to happen it will jeopardize not only the safety of us but our family as well.”); (ii) he was on his way to Syria (“My dear parents, there are a number of reasons I will be going to the blessed land of Shaam,7 and leaving my home.”); (iii) there is an obligation to “migrate” to the “Islamic state [ISIL controlled territory]” now that it has “been established;” (iv) he was upset that, as an adult, he was obligated to pay taxes that would be used to kill his “Muslim brothers and sisters”; (v) he was upset with 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 . . ..”); and (vi) “I extend an invitation, to my family, to join me in the Islamic State.”

16. During the execution of the search warrant, Individual A consented in writing to a search of a vehicle owned by him. According to Individual A, he gave KHAN a key to the vehicle and allowed KHAN to drive it to work and school. Individual A brought agents to the vehicle, opened the door to the vehicle for them, and the vehicle was then searched. Among other items, agents found in the vehicle a spiral-bound notebook containing the following words and symbols:

a. The name of KHAN;

b. Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (in Arabic);

c. Al-Qaeda in the Levant (in Arabic);

d. The Syrian Resistance (in Arabic); and

e. The ISIL flag and the flag of another designated foreign terrorist organization.

Information Provided by KHAN

17. On or about October 4, 2014, at approximately 2:28 pm, KHAN was approached and interviewed by Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) officers in the area of international departure gates M14 and M15 at the airport. During the interview, KHAN told CBP officers, among other things, that he did not have any family in Istanbul and that he planned to stay at a hotel in Istanbul for two or three days, with a return flight on Thursday. KHAN thereafter was interviewed by FBI agents at another location within the airport. That interview lasted approximately three hours. At the conclusion of the interview, law enforcement escorted KHAN back to the international terminal.

18. Later in the evening, KHAN was placed under arrest. Thereafter, he was interviewed by different FBI agents at the airport. According to agents who conducted the interview, KHAN was provided Miranda warnings, which KHAN agreed to waive verbally and in writing. During the interview, KHAN advised that Individual C, whom he had met online, had provided him the phone number of a person KHAN was to contact once KHAN arrived in Istanbul. This contact was to take KHAN to where ISIS was. When asked where that was, KHAN said the area in Syria and Iraq. KHAN also said he planned on remaining there permanently and that he knew that he would be arrested if he returned to the United States. When asked what he was going to do there, KHAN advised that he expected to be involved in some type of public service, a police force, humanitarian work, or a combat role.

http://www.justice.gov/usao/iln/pr/chicago/2014/pr1006_01a.pdf