Tarek Mehanna
| Tarek Mehanna | |
|---|---|
| Born | Pennsylvania |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | pharmacist |
| Known for | his translation of jihadist documents resulted in a conviction of providing material support to terrorism |
Tarek Mehanna is an American pharmacist convicted of conspiracy to provide material support to al Qaeda, providing material support to terrorists (and conspiracy to do so), conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country, conspiracy to make false statements to the FBI, and two counts of making false statements. He was sentenced in April 2012 to 17 years in federal prison.
Mehanna was born in Pennsylvania and grew up in Sudbury, Massachusetts, a small town near Boston. His parents emigrated to the United States from Egypt in 1980.
In 2004, Mehanna spent two weeks in Yemen, where prosecutors proved he tried but failed to seek out training in a militant training camp, with the aim of going to Iraq fighting with Iraqis against the US-led invasion and occupation. When he returned to the U.S., Mehanna began to translate and post online materials described by prosecutors as Al Qaeda propaganda. Mehanna has said that he supports the right of Muslims to defend themselves. His lawyers argued that his internet activities were protected under the U.S. First Amendment.
US Attorney Carmen Ortiz led the prosecution of Mehanna. In April 2012, Mehanna was sentenced in federal court in Boston on four terrorism-related charges and three others related to lying to FBI and other U.S. federal officials. Before his sentence was determined, he described by journalists as "eloquent," and "passionate," the text of which was afterwards widely circulated online.
Following Mehanna's sentencing, the ACLU released a statement saying that the suppression of unpopular ideas is contrary to American values, and that the verdict undermines the First Amendment. Specifically, it stated, "Under the government's theory of the case, ordinary people--including writers and journalists, academic researchers, translators, and even ordinary web surfers--could be prosecuted for researching or translating controversial and unpopular ideas."
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