A native of Eritrea in east Africa, Abdulkader became a citizen of the United States in September 2006. He was a college student at a Xavier University in Cincinnati when he came onto the FBI’s radar after writing Twitter posts seen as sympathetic to Daesh fighters.

On a Twitter account that began in July 2014 and continued into 2015, Abdulkader posted a Daesh training video, lamented that his cousin had died fighting for Daesh and expressed his desire to travel and join the terrorist insurgency.

Abdulkader also stated his wish to attain martyrdom.

From March to mid-April 2015, Abdulkader began speaking with a confidential source about his intentions to travel to Syria and fight for the insurgency. He secured a passport, saved money for the trip and began making travel plans, but postponed the trip until May 2015 because of increased arrests of individuals traveling to join Daesh.

Read More: The Columbus Dispatch

Featured Image – Munir Abdulkader, Ohio DoJ