PSA to prospective jihadists: The FBI will prosecute you if you join Jabhat al-Nusra

On Thursday, FBI agents reportedly informed the family of Nicole Lynn Mansfield, a 33-year-old resident of Flint, Michigan, that Mansfield had been killed in Syria while fighting alongside rebels there.

The news seems to have come as a shock to family members, who said they did not know when or why Mansfield had traveled to Syria. "I’m sick over it," Monica Mansfield Speelman, Nicole’s aunt, told the Detroit Free Press. "I didn’t think she was [a terrorist], but God only knows."

Mansfield reportedly died alongside two other foreign fighters — at least one of whom was British — and her death, if confirmed, makes her the first American killed in Syria’s civil war. According to Syrian media linked to the government — take the allegation with a grain of salt — Mansfield was found carrying the flag of Jabhat al-Nusra, a group allied with al Qaeda in Iraq that the State Department has designated a terrorist organization. Raised Baptist, Mansfield converted to Islam after marrying an Arab-American but divorced him prior to arriving in Syria.

At this stage, it remains unclear how a Baptist-turned-Muslim ended up fighting in Syria. But  Mansfield’s alleged ties to Jabhat al-Nusra raises another question: Were her actions legal under U.S. law?

That’s a question we’ve considered several times here at FP, and the short answer is that, yes, Mansfield’s actions may have been strictly legal. But that doesn’t mean the U.S. government couldn’t have come after her.

My colleague Josh Keating took up this question after Chris Jeon, a student at UCLA, took up arms alongside rebels in Libya. What he found is that U.S. law does not explicitly frown upon joining a foreign rebel movement — so long as that group isn’t fighting against the United States:

According to the U.S. code, any citizen who "enlists or enters himself, or hires or retains another to enlist or enter himself, or to go beyond the jurisdiction of the United States with intent to be enlisted or entered in the service of any foreign prince, state, colony, district, or people as a soldier or as a marine or seaman … shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both." But a court ruling from 1896 involving U.S. citizens who fought with Cuban revolutionaries against Spanish colonial rule interpreted this to mean that it was only illegal for citizens to be recruited for a foreign army in the United States, not to simply fight in one. (Note to Libya’s National Transitional Council: It probably wouldn’t be wise to set up a recruiting station on the UCLA campus in hopes of attracting more fighters.)

Since Jeon appears to have traveled to Libya without any encouragement (he bought a one-way ticket because he didn’t want to risk losing $800 "if I get captured or something"), he’s probably in the clear.

That, however, isn’t the end of the story. Mansfield isn’t the first American to join the Syrian rebels. She follows Eric Harroun, and his legal woes serve as a cautonary tale for any Americans thinking about joining the fight in Syria. After taking up arms with Jabhat al-Nusra, Harroun was arrested upon his return to the United States at Dulles Airport. He was slapped with what on its face looks like a pretty ridiculous charge: conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction — specifically a rocket-propelled grenade. (The technical justification is that the weapon has a larger than half-inch bore.)

Since Harroun’s arrest, federal authorities have been taking a more activist approach to U.S. citizens interested in joining with Jabhat al-Nusra. In April, for instance, U.S. authorities arrested 18-year-old Abdella Ahmad Tounisi before he boarded a flight to Istanbul, allegedly en route to Syria where he would link up with the group. In other words, while the letter of the law may be broadly permissive of joining foreign rebel movements, law-enforcement officials looks less kindly on that action when that rebel movement is a designated terrorist group.

Here’s how the U.S. Code looks at material support:

(1) Unlawful conduct.— Whoever knowingly provides material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization, or attempts or conspires to do so, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 15 years, or both, and, if the death of any person results, shall be imprisoned for any term of years or for life. To violate this paragraph, a person must have knowledge that the organization is a designated terrorist organization (as defined in subsection (g)(6)), that the organization has engaged or engages in terrorist activity (as defined in section 212(a)(3)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act), or that the organization has engaged or engages in terrorism (as defined in section 140(d)(2) of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1988 and 1989).

It’s even enough to just receive military-style training:

(a) Offense.- Whoever knowingly receives military-type training from or on behalf of any organization designated at the time of the training by the Secretary of State under section 219(a)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act as a foreign terrorist organization shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for ten years, or both. To violate this subsection, a person must have knowledge that the organization is a designated terrorist organization (as defined in subsection (c)(4)), that the organization has engaged or engages in terrorist activity (as defined in section 212 of the Immigration and Nationality Act), or that the organization has engaged or engages in terrorism (as defined in section 140(d)(2) of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1988 and 1989). 

Going abroad to fight alongside a rebel movement has a long, dignified history — Lord Byron fighting for Greek independence and George Orwell fighting in the Spanish Civil War are just the most famous examples — but taking up arms with jihadist groups is another story for Western governments. European governments in particular are terrified that their citizens will travel abroad and pick up the lethal skills necessary to carry out a terrorist attack back home. 

So if you’re an American thinking of joining the fight in Syria, take note of your colleagues’ mistakes. While the U.S. government is broadly supportive of the Syrian rebels, the FBI is decidedly not your friend.

Still not convinced? Just read the FBI complaint against Harroun:

Harroun_complaint