ISIS Fighters Charged In Hostage Deaths of Americans

ALEXANDRIA, VA — Two militant fighters for the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham are being held in Alexandria as they face charges related to a hostage scheme that led to the deaths of four Americans and others.

Alexanda Amon Kotey, 36, and El Shafee Elsheikh, 32, two former British citizens, arrived in FBI custody on Wednesday and made their initial appearances in Alexandria federal court. Each faces charges of conspiracy to commit hostage taking resulting in death; four counts of hostage taking resulting in death; conspiracy to murder United States citizens outside of the United States; conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists — hostage taking and murder — resulting in death; and conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization resulting in death. If convicted, each faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.

The charges are tied to a hostage-taking scheme that led to the death of four Americans, as well as British and Japanese residents in Syria. According to the indictment, Kotey, Elsheikh and two others — Mohamed Emwazi, who is dead, and another currently incarcerated in Turkey — were ISIS fighters from 2012 to 2015 who participated in the abduction of American and European hostages in Syria. They allegedly were involved in a "prolonged pattern of physical and psychological violence" against the hostages, which included Americans James Wright Foley, Kayla Jean Mueller, Steven Joel Sotloff, and Peter Edward Kassig. The four ISIS fighters earned the nickname "The Beatles" from hostages due to their English accents and history in the United Kingdom, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Prosecutors say Kotey, Elsheikh, and Emwazi met repeatedly with Muhammed al-Adnani, a former leading commander of ISIS and chief media spokesperson, regarding the hostage-taking schemes and other matters. From November 2012 to February 2015, Kotey, Elsheikh, Emwazi, and other ISIS fighters allegedly conducted acts to inflict pain, suffering, cruelty and mistreatment on American, British, European, and other hostages in captivity. That included murders, forced witnessing of murders, mock executions, shocks to the torso and extremities with an electric taser, and forced "rumbles" where all hostages were placed in a room and forced to fight one another, among others.

From August 2014 through October 2014, ISIS released videos showing Emwazi’s beheadings of Foley, Sotloff, and British citizens David Haines and Alan Henning, and a video of the decapitated head of Kassig was released in November 2014. In January 2015, ISIS released videos with images of two dead Japanese citizens.

“Their alleged acts have shattered the lives of four American families," said G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, in a statement. "What each of these families have sought more than anything else is for these defendants to have their day in court. Well, that day has come. While we cannot return their loved ones or undo the pain that these families face each day, we can do everything possible to ensure that the defendants are held accountable for their alleged savage actions."

Kotey, Elsheikh, and Emwazi also allegedly supervised detention facilities holding hostages and were responsible for transferring hostages between detention facilities. Kotey and Elsheikh allegedly coordinated the Western-hostage ransom negotiations by email from November 2013 to February 2015. Email communications were written to the families of the American victims in English using British phrases and idioms, as well as other phrases and language used by Kotey and Elsheikh.

Kotey, Elsheikh, and Emwazi are also accused of forcibly moving Italian, Danish, and German citizens and two European humanitarian aid workers to watch the execution of Syrian prisoner. Emwazi allegedly executed the Syrian prisoner by shooting him, while Kotey instructed the hostages to kneel at the side of the grave and witness the execution while holding handmade signs pleading for their release. Elsheikh videotaped the execution of the Syrian hostage and allegedly told one hostage "You’re next."

Kotey and Elsheikh were captured together in January 2018 by Syrian Democratic Forces in their attempts to escape to Turkey. Emwazi was killed in a U.S. military airstrike in November 2015 in Syria.

In federal court on Wednesday, Kotey and Elsheikh were informed of the charges against them, provided court-appointed defense counsel, and remanded into the custody of the U.S. Marshals and held pending their next hearing.

"Today, we remember the victims, Jim Foley, Steven Sotloff, Peter Kassig, and Kayla Mueller, and their families who are forever affected by these senseless acts of violence," said FBI Director Christopher Wray. "These families have suffered with the painful loss of their loved ones at the hands of brutal killers; today’s charges demonstrate the FBI’s dedication and commitment to giving them the justice they deserve."

Capt. Sean Casey of the Alexandria Sheriff’s Office provided a statement on Wednesday.

"Alexanda Amon Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh were placed into our custody this afternoon by the U.S. Marshals and are being held at the Alexandria Adult Detention Center," read the statement.

The defendants will next appear in Alexandria federal court on Friday with a detention hearing at 11 a.m. and arraignment at 2 p.m.