Samantha Marie Elhassani

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Samantha Marie Elhassani
Born Springdale, Arkansas
Nationality Template:USA
Other names Samantha Sally
Known for prosecuted for travelling to DAESH - ISIL occupied Syria

Samantha Marie Elhassani is an American woman who pled guilty to material support for terrorism.[1][2][3] She first fell under press scrutiny in January 2018 when a Yazidi orphan boy was found to be speaking perfectly colloquial English in a refugee camp in Kurdistan.[4]

Early life

Samantha and her younger sister Lori were raised by strict Jehovah's Witness parents, in Arkansas.[5] Both Samantha and Lori rejected this strict religious upbringing, with Samantha running away from home with a man she met online, and Lori getting pregnant at 17 years old.

The sisters remained close, with Samantha's second and third husbands being Lori's brothers-in-law, from two different marriages.[5]

Samantha told Elle magazine that her first marriage, to the man she ran away from home, and her third marriage, to Moussa Elhassani, had abusive elements.[5] Her first husband beat her so badly she ended up being hospitalized on several occasions. She said he tried to kill her.

Samantha described her second husband, who fathered her oldest child, as a good man.

Life with Moussa in the United States

Her third husband, Moussa,

Time living under the Daesh regime

In January 2019 WJCT reported on the repatriation of two children from Trinidad whose father took them to Daesh territory, without the knowledge of their mother.[6] Musician Roger Waters, and others, worked to overcome the obstacles to their rescue, and credited Elhassani for caring for the children, after their father died.

[7][8]

Repatriation to the United States, trial and conviction

Elhassani and her children were repatriated to the United States in July, 2018.[9]

Rough work

[10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17]

References

  1. "Former Indiana Resident Pleads Guilty to Concealing Terrorism Financing". US Department of Justice. 2019-11-26. Archived from the original on 2020-12-01. https://web.archive.org/web/20201201151209/https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-indiana-resident-pleads-guilty-concealing-terrorism-financing. Retrieved 2020-10-01. "In November 2014, Elhassani was informed by her husband that he and his brother wanted to travel to Syria to join ISIS, which she knew was a terrorist organization that engaged in terrorist activities." 
  2. Rukmini Callimachi; Eric Schmitt; Charlie Savage (2018-07-19). "American Accused of Being ISIS Fighter in Syria Faces Prosecution in U.S.". The New York Times: p. A7. Archived from the original on 2020-11-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20201115190901/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/19/world/middleeast/islamic-state-us-detainee.html. Retrieved 2020-12-05. "In the case of Mr. Musaibli and the other detainee, identified as Samantha Elhassani, the authorities are banking on the fact that the two have already been indicted in sealed court proceedings, according to authorities." 
  3. Lauren Cross (2018-08-02). "Feds: Disclosure of classified materials at issue in case of Elkhart woman and widow of ISIS terrorist accused of lying to FBI". The Times. Archived from the original on 2018-08-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20180803021047/https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/feds-disclosure-of-classified-materials-at-issue-in-case-of/article_d5df7d2d-4fe4-5f4b-80db-58261142b49c.html. Retrieved 2020-12-05. "Amid national security concerns, federal prosecutors are seeking to discuss classified materials ahead of trial in the case of Samantha "Sally" Elhassani, who spent three years in the Middle East as the reluctant wife of an ISIS terrorist fighter and who is now accused of lying to the FBI." 
  4. Salma Abdelaziz; Arwa Damon; Muwafaq Mohammad; Brice Laine (2018-01-23). "Kidnapped boy raised by American ISIS woman in Raqqa". CNN (Hokuk, Iraq). Archived from the original on 2020-11-09. https://web.archive.org/web/20201109011328/http://edition.cnn.com/2018/01/23/middleeast/yazidi-boy-isis-american-wife-raqqa-intl/index.html. Retrieved 2020-10-01. "But this Iraqi child's love for the United States comes from one of the darkest places on earth: Raqqa, the former capital of the so-called Islamic State, where he was raised in captivity by an ISIS fighter and his American wife." 
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Jessica Roy (2019-08-27). "Two Sisters and the Terrorist Who Came Between Them". Elle magazine. Archived from the original on 2020-11-07. https://web.archive.org/web/20201107235808/https://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/a28485965/samantha-elhassani-isis-sisters-part-one/. Retrieved 2020-10-01. 
  6. Lama Al-Arian (January 2019). "Trinidadian Kids Taken Away To ISIS Reunite With Mom, Thanks To Help From A Rock Star". WJCT. Archived from the original on 2020-12-05. https://web.archive.org/web/20201205053637/https://www.wjct.org/2019/01/trinidadian-kids-taken-away-to-isis-reunite-with-mom-thanks-to-help-from-a-rock-star/. Retrieved 2020-12-05. "An American detainee at the Roj camp, Samantha Marie Elhassani, also known as Samantha Sally, looked after the boys." 
  7. "American Isis family in limbo". CNN. 2018-04-20. Archived from the original on 2020-10-01. https://web.archive.org/web/20201001201258if_/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgkBT0rNUps&feature=emb_logo. Retrieved 2020-10-01. 
  8. Shane Bauer (July/August 2019). "Behind the Lines: An American in the Islamic State". Mother Jones magazine. Archived from the original on 2020-11-12. https://web.archive.org/web/20201112034943/https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/06/behind-the-lines-syria-part-two/. Retrieved 2020-10-01. "Samantha Elhassani tells me she’s an American and a Christian and that she’d come from Indi­ana to Syria with her young son and daughter after her husband decided to join ISIS without telling her. “I was not aware we were coming to Syria,” she says. She lived under control of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria for three years in Raqqa, where she had two more children. She survived the American-led assault on the city, escaped ISIS, and now wants to go home." 
  9. Wladimir van Wilgenburg (2018-07-26). "Syrian Kurds hand two US citizens over to FBI". Kurdistan 24 (Erbil). Archived from the original on 2018-07-26. https://web.archive.org/web/20180726201735/http://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/72f9c14b-03bb-419e-b72a-79e732a8625f. Retrieved 2020-12-05. "The other suspect, IS widow Samantha Elhassani, has been charged with making false statements to the FBI. She lived with her husband and children in IS’ Syrian capital for over two years until the SDF captured her." 
  10. Anne Speckhard; Molly Ellenberg (2020-11-16). "Can Case of Samantha Elhassani Be a Positive Example for Repatriation of Other ISIS Wives?". Homeland Security Today. Archived from the original on 2020-11-22. https://web.archive.org/web/20201122163542/https://www.hstoday.us/subject-matter-areas/counterterrorism/can-case-of-samantha-elhassani-be-a-positive-example-for-repatriation-of-other-isis-wives/. Retrieved 2020-12-05. "The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Indiana announced via a press release that Elhassani has been sentenced to 78 months (6.5 years) in prison and three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to financing terrorism." 
  11. Anne Speckhard (2018-04-17). "Who Will Rescue American Babies From ISIS?". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on 2020-11-09. https://web.archive.org/web/20201109025628/https://www.thedailybeast.com/who-will-rescue-american-babies-from-isis. Retrieved 2020-12-05. "A recent PBS series highlighted the case of an American mother, Samantha Elhassani, who took her two American children into the so-called Islamic State and had two more babies there with her Moroccan husband, who became a member of ISIS." 
  12. "xxx". Kurdistan 24. Archived from the original on 2018-06-20. https://web.archive.org/web/20180620052511/http://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/62050ab7-adf1-4dc6-beed-ee17090f0dc6. Retrieved 2020-12-05. 
  13. Aimee Ambrose (2018-07-25). "ISIS fighter's widow back in Indiana, charged with federal crime". Goshen News (Hammond). Archived from the original on 2020-10-06. https://web.archive.org/web/20201006025841/https://www.goshennews.com/news/local_news/isis-fighter-s-widow-back-in-indiana-charged-with-federal/article_4918bcab-4fd1-59e7-bc14-d42e499d7122.html. Retrieved 2020-12-05. "Elhassani married her husband, Moussa Elhassani, a Moroccan national, while the two lived and worked in the Elkhart area. The couple, with her two children, traveled to Turkey for a vacation in 2015, but then Moussa Elhassani tricked her and forced the family to move into Syria, Samantha Elhassani said during an interview on PBS’ “Frontline” in March as part of a joint investigation by the program and the BBC." 
  14. Sarah Childress; Joshua Baker (2018-07-24). "American Mom Who Lived Under ISIS Charged with Lying to FBI". PBS Frontline. Archived from the original on 2020-11-25. https://web.archive.org/web/20201125082732/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/american-woman-who-lived-under-isis-charged-with-lying-to-fbi/. Retrieved 2020-12-05. "As one of the few American families that have lived under ISIS rule, the El Hassanis are a further test of how the U.S. handles those who have traveled, willingly or not, to the Islamic State." 
  15. Campbell McDiarmid (2018-07-24). "Number of women and children in ISIS significantly underestimated, experts say". The National. Archived from the original on 2020-10-06. https://web.archive.org/web/20201006025841/https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/number-of-women-and-children-in-isis-significantly-underestimated-experts-say-1.753642. Retrieved 2020-12-05. 
  16. "Two Americans captured in Syria returned to US". The Straits Times (Washington, DC). 2018-07-24. Archived from the original on 2020-10-07. https://web.archive.org/web/20201007073507/https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/two-americans-captured-in-syria-returned-to-us. Retrieved 2020-12-05. "Samantha Elhassani, meanwhile, has been charged in Indiana with making false statements to the FBI. She is due in court for an initial hearing at an unconfirmed date." 
  17. Pete Williams (2018-07-24). "Michigan man, Indiana woman charged with fighting for ISIS overseas". NBC News. Archived from the original on 2020-11-09. https://web.archive.org/web/20201109022312/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/michigan-man-charged-fighting-isis-overseas-n894276. Retrieved 2020-12-05. "In a March interview with the BBC and the PBS program "Frontline," Elhassani said her husband tricked the family into traveling to ISIS territory."