Father, son from U.S. charged with joining Islamic State

MIAMI – A father and son accused of travelling from the U.S. to Syria and joining the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham are facing terrorism charges in South Florida, prosecutors said.

Emraan Ali, 53, a U.S. citizen born in Trinidad & Tobago, and Jihad Ali, 19, a U.S. citizen born in New York, made their initial court appearances Wednesday in Miami federal court, according to records. The father is charged with providing and attempting to provide material support to ISIS, and the son is charged with conspiracy to provide material support to ISIS.

According to criminal complaints, Emraan Ali took his family to Syria to join the Islamic State group in March 2015. Both Emraan Ali and Jihad Ali received military and religious training and served as fighters in support of the terrorist organization, prosecutors said.

The father and son surrendered to Syrian Democratic Forces near Baghuz in March 2019, during the last sustained Islamic State battles to maintain territory in Syria, officials said. They were recently transferred to FBI custody and returned to the U.S.

Online court records didn’t list attorneys for the men.