Jonathan Xie, 25, of Basking Ridge, N.J., was sentenced on Monday to 64 months of time served and 20 years of supervised release for concealing his financial support for Hamas, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey stated.
Xie “not only admitted sending money that he hoped would be used by the terrorist organization Hamas to fund violent acts against civilians in Israel, but he also professed his desire to travel to Gaza to join them,” stated Philip Sellinger, the U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey.
“Brandishing a gun and holding a Hamas flag, he also posted that he was going to shoot everybody at a pro-Israel march and ruminated how one could go on a rampage by ramming pro-Israel demonstrators with a car,” Sellinger stated. “This supporter of Hamas learned the true cost of supporting terrorists.”
Nelson Delgado, FBI acting special agent in charge in Newark, stated that Xie “is an unfortunate example of an emerging and extremely dangerous threat” that the bureau “is seeing with much more frequency.”
“The average age of the international and domestic terrorism subjects we investigate is under 21 years old, and they’re being radicalized in only a few months,” Delgado said. “Xie was a teenager when he decided to send money in support of a terrorism organization and then threaten to carry out a plan to kill pro-Israeli people.”
“We need this case to serve as a warning to parents and guardians—pay attention to what your teenagers are doing online,” he said.
After sending $100 to a man in Gaza that he thought was a member of Hamas in December 2018, Xie posted on Instagram, “Just donated $100 to Hamas. Pretty sure it was illegal but I don’t give a damn,” per the U.S. Justice Department.
