34-year-old Ikaika Erik Kang was recently arrested on charges of providing support to the Islamic State. Kang is a former air traffic control specialist and had worked for the U.S. Army since leaving school. He had seen active service in turbulent areas such as Afghanistan and Iraq. According to his lawyer, he may have suffered from certain mental health issues that are service related. The lawyer also claimed that the government was aware of this particular mental illness but they ignored this, the Associated Press reported.
What was the accusation?
Ikaika Erik Kang was Accused of preparing martial art videos and acquiring a drone for ISIS. The FBI arrested him at his home in Waipahu on Saturday after he allegedly pledged his loyalty to the ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdad.
FBI undercover operative
According to the FBI, Ikaika Erik Kang was very well trained in martial arts because he received hand-to-hand combat training in the military at the highest level. The FBI report also claimed that he had successfully filmed a video based on the martial training provided by the US military.
Mr. Kang enlisted the help of an undercover FBI operative, who he believed was someone working for the ISIS terror group. It is believed that Kang videotaped the whole combat lesson so that ISIS could train their own fighters that way.
Accused of buying drone
The U,S, veteran has also been accused of buying a drone that was equipped with a camera. It was reported that this U.S. veteran told an undercover operative that in order to evade U.S. tanks the ISIS terror group could use those devices.
Moreover, he had also been accused of having an intention to provide classified documents to ISIS.
Military officials have indicated that he acted alone in his ISIS venture so the people in Honolulu could rest assured there are no immediate threats from ISIS.
CNN reported that after his arrest, "Kang waived his Miranda rights and admitted he had pledged to join ISIS and attempted to aid the group."
U.S. veteran was given 35 years of sentence
Kang could face a long term in jail. In May, a U.S.
veteran, of the Air Force, was sentenced to 35 years for attempting to aid the Islamic State terror group CNN reported. CNN reported at the time that Acting United States Attorney Bridget Rohde said, "The defendant turned his back on his country, and the military he once served, to attempt to join a brutally violent terrorist organization committed to the slaughter of innocent people throughout the world."
