Jibreel Pratt, left, pledged his support for ISIS and wanted to leave America so he could become a terrorist in the Middle East, feds allege. He also sent an ISIS source who was an FBI informant notes about his plans. (U.S. Attorney’s Office)
A federal grand jury in Michigan indicted a 25-year-old man who allegedly wanted to fight for ISIS and tried to send the terrorist group money along with instructions on how to kill American soldiers overseas.
Jibreel Pratt is charged with two counts of attempted material support for ISIS, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan said Wednesday in a press release. According to prosecutors’ motion to keep him behind bars, Pratt began speaking with an ISIS travel facilitator — who actually was an FBI informant — in February 2023 while he lived in his grandparents’ basement in the Detroit area.
“He planned to travel to the Middle East, join the terrorist organization, and serve ISIS as a leader,” prosecutors wrote. “He was also willing to create a terrorist ‘cell’ here.”
Pratt “painstakingly” developed plans for ISIS to “operate in the shadows” so they could kill as many non-Muslims as possible, feds said. He allegedly said he would use his computer skills to build an “intelligence arm.” Feds say he also bought airline tickets to travel overseas and recorded videos of himself that he sent to the ISIS source pledging allegiance to the terrorist organization.
“He sketched and sent tactical diagrams for fighting against and using explosives in doorways to kill American soldiers,” including more than 30 handwritten notes titled “My personal plans,” prosecutors wrote. “And on two separate occasions, Pratt sent shadowy crypto payments to fund ISIS operations, including the funding of an “istishhadi” (or martyrdom) brother.”
Prosecutors already had their eye on Pratt for computer crimes. In August, feds arrested him for an alleged computer fraud scheme in which he used an illegal online marketplace to buy stolen packages containing banking and cryptocurrency account information. He allegedly bought nearly 14,000 stolen credentials between December 2019 to July 2021. The case remains ongoing.
Following his arrest in that case, he told the ISIS source to “DELETE EVERYTHING.”
Despite his legal troubles his love of the terrorist organization did not waver, prosecutors said.
“Pratt vowed that, since his arrest, his ‘drive and determination has not lowered but increased’ and that he wanted to ‘grow’ ISIS to even ‘bigger heights’ than when it had unleashed savage tyranny across the Middle East,” feds said.
When FBI agents raided his home on Tuesday, they found a loaded handgun hidden within a container of dog food and ammunition in the wall. Possessing the gun and ammunition is a violation of his bond.
If convicted, Pratt faces up to 20 years in prison for the terrorism-related charges.
“Pratt’s statements are powerful evidence of his dangerousness, and he provided them unfiltered to the ISIS source,” feds wrote. “Pratt’s running dialogue with the ISIS source is overflowing with Pratt’s violent plans and is ample evidence of his danger to the community.”
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