A 34-year-old man from Knoxville was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years in prison followed by 20 years of supervised release for attempting to provide material support to the foreign terrorist organization ISIS, according to the Eastern District of Tennessee U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Benjamin Carpenter was convicted on the charge by a jury after an eight-day trial last October, as previously reported by The Tennessee Star.
Carpenter (pictured above), according to evidence presented at the trial, served as the leader of an international organization of pro-ISIS supporters who were dedicated to “translating, producing, and distributing ISIS propaganda throughout the world.”
Under the false name “Abu Hamza,” Carpenter published a large body of troubling ISIS media, including a weekly newsletter that “celebrated the deaths of American soldiers, glorified suicide bombers, and called for open war against the United States and its Western allies,” among other “pro-ISIS propaganda themes.”
Carpenter eventually caught the attention of law enforcement when, in 2020 and 2021, he contacted an individual he believed to be affiliated with ISIS’s central media bureau and provided translation services for a project intended to relaunch Al-Hayat Media Center, ISIS’s official foreign-language media arm.
The individual Carpenter believed to be affiliated with the terrorist group, however, was an FBI undercover employee who had infiltrated Carpenter’s pro-ISIS group.
Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division said Carpenter’s conviction and sentencing “reflects the seriousness” of his conduct and the “Justice Department’s commitment to identifying and holding accountable those who would provide material support to foreign terrorist organizations.”
U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee Francis M. Hamilton III added, “Combatting terrorism and keeping our communities safe are the highest priorities of the United States Attorney’s Office. This case deals a serious blow to the expansion of ISIS and its broken message of hatred and senseless violence.”
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
