Overview
California resident Adam Dandach is a U.S. citizen and attempted foreign fighter for ISIS. On July 3, 2014, he was arrested and charged with making false statements on an application for a replacement passport, which authorities believe he intended to use to fly to Istanbul, Turkey, and eventually onto Syria. In August 2015, Dandach signed a plea agreement admitting to attempting to provide material support to ISIS and making a false statement in a passport application.Brian Melley, “California man guilty of trying to support Islamic State,” Associated Press, August 10, 2015, http://bigstory.ap.org/article/44ce687f5fff4d7188c460d7dc9df278/california-man-guilty-trying-support-islamic-state. He was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison in July 2016.Sean Emery, “O.C. man sentenced to 15 years after he admitted to trying to join ISIS,” Orange County Register, July 25, 2016, http://www.ocregister.com/articles/islamic-723550-dandach-state.html. The judge recommended mental health treatment at sentencing.“United States of America v. Adam Dandach a.k.a. ‘Fadi Fadi Dandach’ – Sentencing Hearing,” United States District Court, Central District of California Southern Division, August 18, 2016, https://extremism.gwu.edu/sites/g/files/zaxdzs2191/f/Dandach%20Sentencing%20Hearing.pdf, 33. Dandach is currently imprisoned at Rochester Federal Medical Center in Minnesota, with an expected release date of September 2, 2027.“Adam Dandach,” Inmate Locator – Federal Bureau of Prisons, accessed March 3, 2021, https://www.bop.gov/inmateloc/.
Authorities believe that Dandach attempted to obstruct the investigation into his actions by asking an unnamed website administrator to delete his post history on that website.“Orange, County, California, Man Charged in New Indictment with Attempting to Provide Material Support to ISIL,” The United States Department of Justice, March 4, 2015, http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/orange-county-california-man-charged-new-indictment-attempting-provide-material-support-isil. Dandach also operated a Twitter account under the twitter handle @Al_Fadi1414. His profile photo depicts the ISIS flag and his bio reads, “The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said: If anyone asks Allah for martyrdom sincerely, Allah make him reach the ranks of martyrs though he may die on his bed.”Adam Dandach Twitter, accessed February 16, 2017, https://twitter.com/al_fadi1414.
In or around March 2015, while in prison, Dandach sent letters and poems to the Orange County Register.Theresa Walker, “'Naive' or a wannabe terrorist? Read some of the letters, poems of O.C. man accused of supporting ISIS,” Orange County Register, March 23, 2015, http://www.ocregister.com/articles/dandach-655150-poem-register.html. In one poem, he wrote, “Rot in a grave of fire, right where you belong. Je suie [sic] Al-Qaeda, leaving another scar.”Theresa Walker, “'Naive' or a wannabe terrorist? Read some of the letters, poems of O.C. man accused of supporting ISIS,” Orange County Register, March 23, 2015, http://www.ocregister.com/articles/dandach-655150-poem-register.html.
Associated Groups
- Extremist entity
- ISIS
- Read Threat Report
- Type(s) of Organization:
- Insurgent, territory-controlling, religious, terrorist, violent
- Ideologies and Affiliations:
- Islamist, jihadist, pan-Islamist, Salafist, takfiri
- Position(s):
- Attempted foreign fighter
ISIS is a violent jihadist group based in Iraq and Syria. The group has declared wilayas (provinces) in Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the North Caucasus. ISIS has also waged attacks in Turkey, Lebanon, France, Belgium, Iraq, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Tunisia, and Kuwait.
History
Daily Dose
Extremists: Their Words. Their Actions.
In Their Own Words:
We reiterate once again that the brigades will directly target US bases across the region in case the US enemy commits a folly and decides to strike our resistance fighters and their camps [in Iraq].
Mar. 2023