Aurora cousins accused of plotting to bring 'flames of war' to suburbs
One cousin, a 22-year-old Army National Guard soldier from Aurora, considered it his duty to fight with Islamic State militants and sought to “bring the flames of war to the heart” of America, federal authorities say.
The other, a 29-year-old former convict who also lives in Aurora and has a wife and children, plotted an armed attack on a suburban military installation he hoped would leave a “body count” of 100 to 150, authorities charged.
Hasan R. Edmonds, the younger of the two, and Jonas M. Edmonds shared their plans with undercover federal agents in months of meetings that culminated with Hasan's attempt to board a flight Wednesday for Egypt, federal authorities said. He was arrested at Midway Airport in Chicago, and Jonas Edmonds was arrested several hours later at a house in Aurora.
Both U.S. citizens and alumni of Aurora West High School, the cousins each are charged with conspiring to provide material support and resources to a foreign terrorist organization.
The men, who federal authorities said had expressed willingness to die for Islamic State causes, were reunited Thursday in a federal courtroom in Chicago.
A relative, meanwhile, wondered what had happened to the pair she described as “nice young men.”
“I would have never thought of this,” said Aurora resident Gloria Edmonds, their great aunt, who said she hadn't talked to either man for about two years. She said they seemed quiet, ambitious, intelligent and well-mannered.
“I don't know what's been going through their minds, what they've been doing,” she said.
Hasan Edmonds graduated from West Aurora High School in 2011 and was on the boys track team his senior year. Jonas Edmonds attended the high school but left in 2004, his senior year, according to Tony Martinez, a spokesman for West Aurora District 129.
In court, the pair barely looked at each other during the 15-minute hearing Thursday afternoon despite sitting just a few feet apart. Each faces a maximum of 15 years in prison if convicted.
Clean-shaven, bald and wearing glasses, Hasan Edmonds quietly answered the judge's questions. Jonas Edmonds, sporting a full head of hair and a long beard, was louder and corrected the judge when she misstated his first name. Jonas Edmonds swiveled nonchalantly in his chair as the judge explained the charges against him and his cousin. He refused to sign an affidavit regarding his financial status to determine whether he is eligible for a public defender.
No one from either man's family was in the courtroom. Jonas Edmonds' lawyer, Jim Graham, said the man has a wife and children in Aurora. Court records indicate he was trying to get them relocated to the Middle East. According to the federal complaint, the cousins were concerned Jonas Edmonds would be unable to leave the country because of his March 2004 conviction for conspiracy to commit armed robbery in Cobb County, Georgia. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison but served only from 2005 to 2010, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections.
A bond hearing for Hasan Edmonds is scheduled for 2 p.m. Monday in federal court in Chicago, and both men are due in court at 2 p.m. April 6 for a preliminary hearing.
At Hasan Edmonds' family house on the 700 block of Cedardale Place on Aurora's west side, three cars were parked in the driveway Thursday and one car was parked in front of the house, but no one was answering the door. A woman who answered the phone declined to comment.
Mike Olvera, who lives two houses away, said Hasan Edmonds' family is well-known in the neighborhood, but “not as bad people.”
“We don't have any problems with them,” Olvera said. “My kids play there all day. But other than that, they're good people. Until now, we hear this. Now I'm skeptical.”
Court records paint a more terrifying picture of the two men.
The federal complaint against them states the cousins and undercover FBI agents had been communicating via Facebook and text messages since January.
Hasan Edmonds told an undercover agent that he had no plans of fulfilling the remaining three years on his term in the Army Reserve, but that it was his “duty” to support the Islamic State or to be martyred in the process, the federal complaint said.
“Honestly we would love to do something like the brother in Paris did,” Hasan Edmonds wrote in a text message to an undercover agent, who believed the reference was to the Jan. 7 terrorist attack that killed 11 people at the Charlie Hebdo newspaper, the complaint said.
Federal officials say Hasan Edmonds' trip to Cairo, Egypt, with layovers in Detroit and Amsterdam, was an attempt to meet up with Islamic State militants.
Both defendants are accused of planning for Jonas Edmonds to attack a military facility where his cousin had been training, federal authorities said. Hasan Edmonds was a member of Golf Company 634th Brigade Support Battalion, based at the Joliet Armory, Illinois National Guard Lt. Col. Brad Leighton said.
According to the complaint, an in-person meeting between Jonas Edmonds and an undercover FBI agent occurred March 3 at an undisclosed public location in Downers Grove. The Edmonds cousins also met with an undercover agent Monday in Aurora, federal authorities said.
The next day, the undercover agent traveled with them to the military base, where they discussed purchasing weapons and how to conduct an attack, the federal complaint said. Hasan went into the base and obtained a training schedule, which he gave to his cousin, according to the complaint.
“Upon learning of the investigation, our efforts and priorities focused on ensuring the safety of our soldiers, airmen, and their families,” Leighton said. He said the Guard took “discreet but concrete” action to protect other soldiers once the FBI alerted it to the investigation.
“We have remained in communication with federal authorities throughout the process,” he said.
He said there was nothing in Hasan Edmonds' record that would raise red flags.
Hasan Edmonds joined the Guard on Aug. 29, 2011, Leighton said, and his job was managing supplies like uniforms.
Jonas Edmonds asked the FBI undercover agent to assist in the attack and explained that they would use Hasan Edmonds' uniforms and information he supplied about how to access the installation and target officers, federal authorities said.
“We will pursue and prosecute with vigor those who support ISIL and its agenda of ruthless violence,” said Zachary T. Fardon, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, using one of several alternate names for the Islamic State terrorist group. “Anyone who threatens to harm our citizens and allies, whether abroad or here at home, will face the full force of justice.”
The Chicago Police Department, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations, the Illinois State Police, the Aurora Police Department and the Illinois National Guard participated in the investigation.
Neighbors of the men were rattled by the accusations.
“It's sad that we've still got Americans that still think about joining the ISIS,” said Master Sgt. Alex Gonzalez said, who lives near the house believed to be the residence of Jonas Edmonds.
David Jenkins and Wendy Walsh, who live near Hasan Edmonds' home, said member of the family were friendly in their brief interactions and often hang out on the patio of their one-story ranch home.
“But this just goes to show that you never know what goes on behind someone's closed doors,” Jenkins said.
Added Walsh, “It's really scary to have this in our neighborhood. It's really scary because you don't know if they have other friends who are doing this across the street or down the street or if it's just them.”