Providing material support for terrorism

The material support provisions have been criticized by rights groups as violating the First Amendment, as they criminalize activities like the distribution of literature, engaging in political advocacy, participating in peace conferences, training in human rights advocacy, and donating money and humanitarian assistance, even when the support is intended only to promote lawful and non-violent activities. The provisions are vague and wide-ranging, and impose guilt by association by punishing people not for their own acts but for the acts of those they have supported. David D. Cole, in his book Terrorism and the Constitution, stated that: Professor Jeanne Theoharis describes the measures in equally critical terms: US Senator Patrick Leahy sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton regarding humanitarian relief in Somalia in 2011. "I have long urged reform of our laws governing so-called material support for terrorism. The current law is so broad as to be unworkable. Aid workers trying to provide relief to starving Somalis fear they could be prosecuted if some of it were to end up in the hands of al-Shabaab, an al-Qaeda affiliate that controls parts of Somalia. And so while the situation in Somalia grows more desperate each day, with children dying needlessly, the delivery of food and medicines is hampered, first by al-Shabaab, which is denying access to broad swaths of Somali territory, and secondly, by our overly restrictive laws. The Secretary of State has the power to grant exemptions where the purpose is not to engage in terrorist activity. She should use that authority immediately to ensure aid can reach as many Somalis as possible." == Implementation ==

The following people have been charged or convicted of providing material support for terrorism under this law. • David Hicks, a former Guantanamo detainee who pleaded guilty in 2007 and served a sentence of less than one year in Australia, before his case was thrown out as a court found the crime is not a war crime and cannot be tried by a military court. • Zachary Adam Chesser, who pleaded guilty to communicating death threats to South Park directors Trey Parker and Matt Stone, soliciting violent jihadists to "desensitize" law enforcement, and attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison. • John Walker Lindh, who was captured fighting for the Taliban during the Battle of Qala-i-Jangi, one of the first battles in the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan. He was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison on various charges. • Lynne Stewart, a 70-year-old veteran civil rights lawyer who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for transmitting information from her imprisoned client Omar Abdel-Rahman to his accomplices. • Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a former Guantanamo detainee who was Osama bin Laden's former driver. He was convicted in 2008 and served a sentence of less than one year in Yemen. See . • Mohammed Abdullah Warsame, who attended the al Farouq training camp in 2000. • Tarek Mehanna, convicted of providing "material support" to al-Qaida, for translating books and videos for website At Tibyan, encouraging readers to join al-Qaida and kill American soldiers in Iraq, sentenced to 210 months. In September 2010, the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided activists in Minneapolis and Chicago, seizing computers, cell phones and files and issuing subpoenas to some targeted individuals to appear before a federal grand jury. The FBI agents were seeking evidence of ties to foreign terrorist organizations, including the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Attorneys linked the raids to the Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project decision. in January 2016, social networking service Twitter was sued by the widow of a U.S. man killed in the Amman shooting attack, claiming that allowing ISIL to use the platform constituted material support of a terrorist organization. The lawsuit was dismissed under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which dictates that the operators of an interactive computer service are not liable for content published on the service by others. During the Syrian Civil War a naturalized U.S. citizen of Bosnian origin joined ISIL and died while fighting. In 2015, six Bosnian residents of the U.S. were charged with providing material support for terrorism. The six sent funds ranging from $150 to $1,850, and also "U.S. military uniforms, tactical clothes and gear, combat boots, military surplus supplies and other items from businesses in St. Louis" in August 2013. == See also ==