
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Basking Ridge NJ, A Basking Ridge (Somerset County) resident faces up to 10 years in federal prison after pleading guilty on September 15 to concealing attempts to provide material support to HAMAS. Court documents indicated Jonathan Xie, 21, hid details about his efforts to offer support and resources to the foreign terrorist organization, admitting he believed he was aiding the group in committing violence. In December 2018, Xie sent $100 to an individual in Gaza he believed was part of a HAMAS faction that has conducted attacks, posting about it on social media. About four months later, a man wearing a black ski mask later identified as Xie claimed in a video online that “he was against Zionism and the neo-liberal establishment,” according to prosecutors. He said he would join HAMAS if he could find a way, displayed the group’s flag and a handgun, and expressed he would shoot everybody at a pro-Israel march. Also in April 2019, Xie sent an undercover FBI employee a link to a website of the HAMAS faction he previously donated money to. He provided screenshots of the website and demonstrated how to send bitcoin through it. Xie could also be fined $250,000 when sentenced on January 27.