HAMDEN, Conn. — A Hamden man was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison on Thursday for attempting to provide material to support the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a foreign terrorist organization.
According to court documents and statements made in court, between August and October 2019, McCormick made several statements to others expressing a desire to travel to Syria and to fight for ISIS.
In August 2019, McCormick allegedly stated to members of a Muslim community center that: “We should support ISIS” and “jihad is the way to go.”
In another conversation in October 2019, McCormick allegedly stated: “I gotta fight bro, because those people, Abu Masa and ISIL, they fought for me bro, I know it, I can feel it, in my heart. So it’s my time to fight . . . It just is what it is bro, it’s just my – it’s just my time to go bro.” When McCormick was asked to elaborate on where he would like to travel, McCormick responded, “I don’t know, I don’t know bro – it’s gotta be like Syria. Where ISIL is at….whichever place is easiest, whatever place I can get there the fastest, the quickest, the easiest, and where I can have a rifle and I can have some people, bro. That’s what I need, I need a rifle and I need some people, I need Islamic law, I need, that’s what I need, because if I have these things, it’s gonna be very hard to kill me.”
On October 12, 2019, McCormick attempted to board a flight from Connecticut to Jamaica, but was stopped by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. McCormick allegedly told an individual that he wanted to travel to Jamaica, and then onward to Syria to join ISIS. He allegedly indicated that he wanted to acquire weapons.
On October 19, 2019, McCormick made a video during which he pledged allegiance to ISIS and its leader, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi. On that same date, he purchased a plane ticket from Toronto, Canada, to Amman, Jordan.
On October 21, 2019, McCormick was arrested after he traveled to a small private airport in Connecticut where he expected to board a plane that would fly him to Canada.
McCormick has been detained since his arrest.
On January 12, 2023, he pleaded guilty to attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.
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