New York, NY, October 20, 2010 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today welcomed the guilty plea of a Virginia man on federal charges of providing material support to Al Shabaab, an Al Qaeda-linked terrorist organization based in Somalia.
ADL's Center on Extremism, which documented Zachary A. Chesser's extensive online activity, assisted in the FBI's investigation.
ADL issued the following statement:
ADL publically identified Abu Talhah Al-Amrikee as Zachary Adam Chesser in April 2010 following threats he made against the creators of South Park. The League has been monitoring Chesser's online activity since 2009, including his professed hatred of Americans, Jews and Shi'a Muslims. We are gratified that we were able assist the FBI in their investigation.
Chesser, who attempted to travel to Somalia to join Al Shabaab earlier this year, posted terrorist propaganda through a variety of Web sites, blogs and social networking sites. In April 2010, Chesser – known online as Abu Talhah Al-Amrikee – threatened the creators of South Park for satirizing issues surrounding the depiction of the Prophet Muhammad.
Prior to his July 2010 arrest, Chesser also distributed original content, including a 25-page report on how to teach Western children the values of Jihad. He also ran the Web site of Revolution Muslim (RM), a New York-based fringe anti-Semitic Muslim organization that justifies terrorist attacks and other forms of violence against non-Muslims.
Chesser pleaded guilty to providing material support to Al Shabaab, communicating threats and soliciting crimes of violence.