A St. Augustine man was arrested and will now spend the next two decades behind bars for trying to provide material support to a terrorist organization, Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), by creating and distributing a bomb-making instructional video.
Romeo Xavier Langhorne, 32, pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to provide material support to ISIS on May 13, 2021. According to a report from ABC, Langhorne pledged his allegiance to ISIS at some point in 2014, knowing that ISIS was a designated foreign terrorist organization. Then, between 2018 and 2019, the Department of Justice (DOJ) says that Langhorne reaffirmed his support of ISIS on various social media accounts, posted ISIS-produced videos to his YouTube account, and participated in online ISIS chat rooms with like-minded individuals.
In fact, in December 2018 and January 2019, Langhorne used one of those chat rooms to express an interest in creating a video demonstrating how to make and use triacetone triperoxide (TATP), which is a deadly explosive, officials say.
In February 2019, Langhorne reportedly started communicating with an undercover FBI employee (UCE) pretending to work on behalf of ISIS, asking the UCE for help with his plans to create an instructional video on making TATP. According to the DOJ, Langhorne told the UCE that, in order to make sure service providers didn’t remove the video from the internet, it should include disclaimers saying that it was meant for educational purposes.
However, Langhorne informed the UCE that his true purpose in making and distributing the video was to provide ISIS adherents and others with the knowledge of how to make TATP and use it for terrorism-related purposes in support of ISIS, the department says.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Langhorne began communicating with an undercover employee of the FBI in February 2019 who was posing as someone working on behalf of ISIS. Langhorne told the undercover employee about his plans to create and disseminate an instructional video on making TATP and sought assistance in creating the video. Langhorne also said that, in order to ensure that the video was not removed from the internet by service providers, it should include disclaimers advising that it was intended for educational purposes. However, Langhorne informed the undercover employee that his true purpose in making and distributing the video was to arm ISIS adherents and others with knowledge of how to make TATP and use it for terrorism-related purposes in support of ISIS.
According to court documents obtained by Wink News, during the summer of 2019, Langhorne sent multiple messages to the undercover employee for assistance with creating a nasheed, which is a form of Islamic vocal music. Langhorne stated he wanted the nasheed to include a particular recording of an ISIS member yelling “Allahu Akbar” while breaking out of prison, as well as a clip of children saying, “kill them all.” Langhorne explained that he wanted the Nasheed “to encourage justified retaliation” against the U.S. for its role in killing Muslims.
The FBI produced a video in accordance with Langhorne’s instructions but featured an inert chemical formula for TATP that would not produce an explosion. In November 2019, the UCE provided versions of the TATP video to Langhorne, which he distributed by uploading it to a video-sharing website.
The FBI — including partner agencies participating in the Northeast Florida Joint Terrorism Task Force –investigated the case, with some assistance from U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Field Operations and Border Patrol, as well as the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office in Florida. The case was then prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Cofer Taylor for the Middle District of Florida and Trial Attorney D. Andrew Sigler of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.
Unfortunately, the wannabe terrorist was not placed in prison with his ISIS buddies, although I’m sure he’ll make himself some new friends in the 20 years he’ll be behind bars.