The arrest of a suburban Washington, D.C., teenager allegedly willing to help ISIS appears to be an all too familiar scenario — a young person radicalized by Internet propaganda.
The Osbourn Park High School student from Woodbridge, Virginia, is in custody, NBC Washington reported, and is accused of helping another young man travel to Syria to join ISIS. Little has been made public about this latest arrest because the suspect is 17 and being treated as a juvenile.
The arrest took place Friday, according to The Washington Post, which first reported the arrest.
Authorities say the person whom the teen helped travel to Syria will soon be charged with material support to a terrorist organization. That person's identity wasn't released, but he's believed to be not much older than the high school student. Officials say the student, who is Muslim, used the Internet to help make travel arrangements for the other young man to get to Syria and to find contacts there.
In one of their regular advisories to local law enforcement, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security said the case is another demonstration that young people are using social media for jihadist ends.
The Prince William County Schools said Wednesday that they were not aware of any security threats surrounding the arrested teen. "There is no indication that our students are being specifically targeted to support extremist causes," the statement said.
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