U.S. prosecutors charge New York man with being Islamic State sniper

 

Ruslan Maratovich Asainov, a 42-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Kazakhstan, appears in this courtroom sketch alongside Attorney Susan Kellman before United States Magistrate Judge Steven M. Gold at the United States Courthouse after he was was charged with providing material support to the Islamic State, in New York City, U.S. July 19, 2019. REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg

 

(Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors have charged a New York man with fighting for the Islamic State militant group in Syria and serving as a weapons trainer, according to court documents unsealed on Friday.

 

Ruslan Maratovich Asainov, a 42-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Kazakhstan, was charged with providing material support to the terrorist organization, including providing training to terrorist soldiers and attempting to recruit personnel.

 

Asainov traveled to Istanbul, Turkey, from his home in New York's Brooklyn borough in December 2013 and then to Syria, where he joined Islamic State and rose through the ranks as a sniper and then as a weapons instructor, according to charging documents.

 

Prosecutors said Asainov was detained by the Syrian Democratic Forces and was transferred into FBI custody.

 

The charges filed against Asainov were based in part on his regular communication between August 2014 and March 2015 with a confidential informant working for the New York Police Department. According to the complaint, Asainov attempted to recruit the informant to work for Islamic State's media operations and asked that he send about $2,800 for military equipment.

 

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for several attacks against Americans in the United States and abroad.

 

(Reporting by Gabriella Borter in Boston; Editing by Scott Malone and Jonathan Oatis)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-07-20

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In Australia (if found guilty) his citizenship would be revoked and he would be deported after serving his sentence. Same in the US?

If proven guilty my first response would be to feed him alive to ravenous pigs but just put him in the general population in prison they will sort him out

Well, if he is found guilty of any affiliation to a terrorist organization, his citizenship can be removed, if it is within 5 years of his naturalization.   First of all, he has broken his oath of allegiance to the US, in particular, this part:

 

that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of American against all enemies, foreign and domestic. 

 

The law is clear on the conditions of removing citizenship:

A person is subject to revocation of naturalization if the person becomes a member of, or affiliated with, the Communist party, other totalitarian party, or terrorist organization within five years of his or her naturalization. ^[6] In general, a person who is involved with such organizations cannot establish the naturalization requirements of having an attachment to the Constitution and of being well-disposed to the good order and happiness of the United States. 

 

https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-12-part-l-chapter-2

 

I suspect any prison sentence that he gets will be long enough to make the issue of his citizenship and repatriation rather moot.