Ahmad Musa Jebril: Radical Islamist Preacher, ISIS Supporter, Allowed Back Online

By Alison Lesley --
14 Apr 2015 --

Islamist Preacher Ahmad Musa Jebril who was in jail for five years and had his online presence banned will be allowed to return to social media.

A year ago, imam Ahmad Musa Jebril, or Jibril as it is occasionally spelled, was put under some pretty tight internet constraints in response to money laundering and tax evasion, along with insurance fraud. He and his father were jailed in 2005 for running repeat insurance fraud claims on the rental properties they ran. He spent six-and-a-half years in prison after he was thrown out of his mosque. He was urging his followers to kill non-Muslims. After his release from prison, he was put under very strict court supervision for three years.

Preaching Extremism: Is It Protected by the First Amendment?

The 43-year-old Michigan-based Islamist preacher had developed a huge following among foreign fighters in Syria, as well as in the few ISIS supporters across America. Three particularly well-known ISIS supporters that reside in the states are direct followers of him. There’s a student at a religious university, and one person in Texas who was forced from their mosque after displaying extremism behaviors. A teacher in Minnesota has been known to post ISIS propaganda videos on social media. According to many people who have attended his lectures have said that he frequently spreads hatred, even labeling “certain Muslims as apostates.”

When Ahmad Musa Jibril was put under lock and key, he completely disappeared. He was required to report his activities to the authorities, and the authorities had tight controls over what he could and could not access online. A wide majority of U.S. officials weren’t entirely sure if the rhetoric preachings presented by Jibril were protected under the First Amendment. Rather than directly urging others to fly to Syria and take up arms, he offered huge amounts of support to the armed opposition of Assad, and harsh criticisms of the Muslims in the Western world. Federal officers, at the time, who were familiar with Ahmad Musa Jibril’s case felt that the fraud case allowed them to ensure that he wasn’t pushing Americans to join the foreign fighters. Not too long after he was placed on probation, he stopped posting sermons.