A New Jersey man, identified as Ali Muhammed Brown, who is accused of killing four people in New Jersey and Washington State reportedly kept a journal where he wrote about his desire to travel to Iraq and support the Islamic State (IS). Before he did the killings, he was on a federal terrorism watch list as per the statement of a spokeswoman for the Essex County Prosecutor's Office in Newark.
According to Reuters, Brown faces state terrorism charges and has been charged with spending 36 and a half years in prison. Brown fatally shot a 19-year-old man in New Jersey identified as Brendan Tevlin. Tevlin was at a traffic stop in 2014 when he was shot. Brown has been charged with murder and terrorism counts regarding Tevlin's death.
As for the other three murders, he is accused of killing them in Washington State. Accordingly, Brown told investigators that he killed the three people as a revenge for US military's action in the Middle East. He also told officials that he is a strict Muslim.
Brown also had past brushes with the law as Yahoo reported that he was linked to a bank fraud case back in 2005 in Washington State. In 2008, he was convicted for assault and in 2012, he was also convicted for communication with a minor for immoral purposes.
Brown was also charged with armed robbery, which occurred during the same period of the three killings in Washington and one in New Jersey. He is still awaiting trial in all four slayings, NJ.com reported.
He is most likely to spend 33 years before he becomes eligible for parole. More on his sentencing, his attorney, Albert Kapin, contested a 20-year prison sentence as his client's past criminal history is reportedly not significant in the killings.
