John Walker Lindh, the captured Islamic militant who at age 20 journeyed to Afghanistan to join the Taliban and fought alongside the terrorists in the days after 9/11, was released from a U.S. federal prison in Indiana on Thursday — despite lawmakers’ concerns about the “security and safety implications” of freeing an unrepentant terrorist who officials say continues to “openly call for extremist violence.”
Lindh, dubbed the “American Taliban,” had been serving his sentence at the Terre Haute, Indiana facility. He was discharged several years before completing the 20-year prison sentence he received for joining and supporting the Taliban, with officials citing “good behavior” for the early release. The former Islamist fighter and enemy combatant, named “Detainee 001 in the war on terror,” was captured alongside a group of Taliban fighters in 2001, just months after the Sept. 11 attacks and the start of the war in Afghanistan.
DHS responds after reports CISA chief allegedly failed polygraph for classified intel access
Former classmate says suspect in Brown, MIT killings was ‘socially awkward’ and ‘angry’ during college years
DOJ restores Trump photo to Epstein files after determining no victims depicted
Man rushed to hospital in apparent self-inflicted shooting at Atlanta airport
Trump’s team reports concrete progress in Ukraine peace negotiations with European partners
Byron Donalds urges conservatives to ‘focus on the mission’ at AmericaFest after 2025 setbacks
Brown Recluse Spider Bite Leaves Woman Virtually Paralyzed: ‘I Couldn’t Feed Myself’
Vance says ‘America First’ movement rejects ‘purity tests,’ welcomes critical thinkers
Fetterman Rips Into Fellow Democrats After Anti-Semitic Australia Shooting: ‘A Rot Within the American Left’
Illegal Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Strangling ICE Agent
US Coast Guard pursues third ‘dark fleet’ oil tanker as Trump targets Venezuelan sanctions evasion network
42 Years Later, DNA Evidence Solves Case of 5 Texans Kidnapped from a KFC Restaurant and Executed After Robbery
White House teases major housing affordability plan as prices squeeze Americans
Fisherman survives near-fatal shark attack with own lifesaving care, instincts that kept him alive
Watch: Sen. Kennedy Gives the Best Description of Watching ‘The View’ That We’ve Ever Heard (and Several WJ Staffers Agree With Him)
“We must consider the security and safety implications for our citizens and communities who will receive individuals like John Walker Lindh, who continue to openly call for extremist violence,” Sens. Richard C. Shelby, R-Ala., and Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., wrote in a letter to the Federal Bureau of Prisons late last week that was obtained by the Washington Post.
In the letter, the lawmakers reportedly sought details on how the agency is working to prevent prisoners such as Lindh from committing additional crimes after their release. They also asked which other “terrorist offenders” are next in line to be freed and how the Federal Bureau of Prisons determines whether or not someone is an “ongoing public threat.”
DHS responds after reports CISA chief allegedly failed polygraph for classified intel access
Former classmate says suspect in Brown, MIT killings was ‘socially awkward’ and ‘angry’ during college years
DOJ restores Trump photo to Epstein files after determining no victims depicted
Man rushed to hospital in apparent self-inflicted shooting at Atlanta airport
Trump’s team reports concrete progress in Ukraine peace negotiations with European partners
Byron Donalds urges conservatives to ‘focus on the mission’ at AmericaFest after 2025 setbacks
Brown Recluse Spider Bite Leaves Woman Virtually Paralyzed: ‘I Couldn’t Feed Myself’
Vance says ‘America First’ movement rejects ‘purity tests,’ welcomes critical thinkers
Fetterman Rips Into Fellow Democrats After Anti-Semitic Australia Shooting: ‘A Rot Within the American Left’
Illegal Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Strangling ICE Agent
US Coast Guard pursues third ‘dark fleet’ oil tanker as Trump targets Venezuelan sanctions evasion network
42 Years Later, DNA Evidence Solves Case of 5 Texans Kidnapped from a KFC Restaurant and Executed After Robbery
White House teases major housing affordability plan as prices squeeze Americans
Fisherman survives near-fatal shark attack with own lifesaving care, instincts that kept him alive
Watch: Sen. Kennedy Gives the Best Description of Watching ‘The View’ That We’ve Ever Heard (and Several WJ Staffers Agree With Him)
Lindh has been blamed for playing a role in the death of Johnny “Mike” Spann, a U.S Marine turned CIA paramilitary operative who became the first American to be killed in combat in Afghanistan, amid the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. Spann’s daughter, Allison, told Fox News in March that Lindh’s early release “feels like such a slap in the face.”
This is a developing story; please check back for updates.
Story cited here.
