CHARLESTON, SC — An 18-year-old convicted of trying to join ISIS and plotting to kill American soldiers as a juvenile has been arrested on charges of trying to join the terrorist group again.
Zakaryia Abdin of Ladson, SC was arrested at the Charleston International Airport just before boarding an international flight Thursday night. Officials say he was allegedly trying to travel overseas to join the terrorist organization.
In 2015, Abdin, a then York, SC resident, was arrested by York Police for plotting to join ISIS and kill American soldiers. At the time, Abdin was a juvenile and his name was withheld from the public.
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During a search of his bedroom in 2015, police say they found a loaded handgun, rifle, ISIS literature and ISIS flag. Officials also said Abdin planned on traveling to the Middle East after he and another teen, from North Carolina, killed soldiers at a military base in North Carolina.
The only thing police could charge Abdin with at the time was possession of a firearm, according to York Police Chief Andy Robinson. The federal prosecutor however, pursued a terrorism charge.
“Based on the circumstances of this case, I was very concerned about his possession of a gun and the safety of the residents of York County,” says Solicitor Kevin Brackett. “He received the maximum sentence on all counts and was supposed to remain in the juvenile justice system until his 21st birthday.”
Abdin served only 14 months of his sentence before being paroled in May 2016.
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According to Brackett, “His attorney contended that he was troubled because of the death of his father, it was an aberration, a one-off, and we would never hear from him again.”
York Police also spoke out against Abdin’s release.
Chief Robinson said right after the parole hearing, “I just don’t think, from the way he acted in the hearing yesterday, that his ideas have changed any.” Robinson also said that Abdin refused to tell the parole board where he got the guns.
A new bill, HB3208, was introduced in SC following Abdin’s original case that now allows local and state law enforcement to make terrorism related charges. Chief Robinson says Abdin’s case is a perfect example of why that law is needed.
Robinson says he saw the news about Adbin’s recent arrest and says, “I’m just glad nobody was hurt.”
