Today, outrage erupted over the’special treatment’ given to a British ISIS ‘Beatle’ who killed four hostages, when it was revealed he will not spend the rest of his life in an American supermax jail due to mental health issues.
El Shafee Elsheikh, 34, or ‘Ringo,’ will reportedly not serve his term in solitary confinement at ADX Florence in Colorado, but rather at USP Florence High, a less restricted facility on the same location.
Elsheikh, from West London, was given eight life terms for conducting “some of the most brutal terrorist atrocities ever committed” as a member of the twisted ‘ISIS Beatles’ squad, which in 2014 kidnapped, tortured, and murdered a group of journalists and relief workers in Syria.
Today, David Spencer, head of research at the Centre for Crime Prevention, criticized the decision.
‘In view of what he has done and the consequences of his awful crimes on his victims and their loved ones, preferential treatment for him on the basis of his mental health appears soft,’ he told MailOnline.
Noting that the supermax prison already contains other British terrorists, such as hate preacher Abu Hamza, he continued, ‘There is a lack of consistency.’ If this prison is where serious terrorists are imprisoned, then he should have been put there as well.
We must immediately determine why this man has not been put there as a convicted terrorist who has killed so many people.
Due to’signs of mental and physical deterioration from his present and former confinement,’ his attorneys pleaded for him to avoid the so-called ‘concrete box’ at the supermax jail. As a result, he will spend the remainder of his life among the regular prison population, according to The Mirror.
Mr. Spencer stated, “There is a clear risk that he could radicalize others if he is in the general society.” This issue has been well documented in British and American prisons in the past. The decision is at best naive.
El Shafee Elsheikh, 34, will not be sent to a ‘concrete box’ at the ADX Florence prison in Colorado, but rather to the less restrictive USP Florence High on the same site.
Elsheikh would have been imprisoned in isolation for 23 hours a day at the ADX Florence’supermax’ facility in Colorado, whose inmates include Oklahoma bomber Terry L. Nichols and author of the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center, Ramzi Ahmed Yousef.
Elsheikh’s eight life sentences will be served at USP Florence High, where he is now incarcerated.
Left: American journalist Steven Sotloff, a freelancer. Kayla Mueller is pictured after delivering a speech in Prescott, Arizona. Both were executed by ISIS in Syria. James Foley is shown in Aleppo, Syria, while covering the civil conflict.
Peter Kassig, age 26, wrote a message to his father in Syria soon before he was decapitated on film. The letter was read during the trial in court.
A source told the newspaper that the family of the dead “do not know how he evaded Florence” and that it was “a kick in the teeth.”
The source, identified as a US jail insider, stated that the families “thought he would serve out his sentence at ADX, but have been informed he has been transferred to a smaller facility.”
While El Sheikh is’more than qualified’ to be among the ‘worst of the worst’ at ADX, he has escaped being imprisoned with some of the world’s most dangerous criminals and dying alone, according to the report.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the Boston Marathon bomber, and Gary Ridgway, a Green River serial killer, are among the other inmates who have spent time in Florence High.
Elsheikh would have been isolated for 23 hours each day in the ADX Florence supermax facility in Colorado.
Inmates include Oklahoma bomber Terry L. Nichols and Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, the mastermind of the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center.
Alexanda Kotey, 38, was incarcerated in the United States in April for his role in the murders.
The leader of the terrorist group, Mohammed Emwazi, better known as Jihadi John, was assassinated by a drone attack in 2015.
Born in Sudan and raised in West London, Elsheikh was convicted of conspiring to murder four American hostages: journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and aid workers Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller.
ISIS uploaded online videos of the beheadings of all but Mueller, shocking and terrifying the world.
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State, enslaved and repeatedly raped Mueller before she was slain.
In 2014, the deaths of Foley, Sotloff, and Kassig were confirmed; in early 2015, Mueller’s death was confirmed.
Boston Marathon Bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (pictured) and Green River serial killer Gary Ridgway are among the other inmates who have spent time at Florence High.
In August, Elsheikh was given concurrent life sentences for each of the eight offenses he was convicted of in April, which were deemed ‘brutal, callous,’ and ‘horrific’ Elsheikh’s actions were described as ‘brutal, callous,’ and ‘horrific’
According to reports, the group was led by Mohammed Emwazi, also known as Jihadi John, and included Alexanda Kotey and Elsheikh. Elsheikh and Kotey were detained by US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in Syria in 2018 while attempting to flee to Turkey.
Kotey pled guilty to eight counts related to his role last year, while Davis was imprisoned in Turkey before being deported to the United Kingdom last week and Emwazi was killed by a drone strike.
In April, Judge T.S. Ellis handed down the identical judgment of eight concurrent life terms to Kotey in the same court.
Elsheikh’s sentencing occurred on the eighth anniversary of the day ISIS published a YouTube video depicting the brutal killing of James Foley.
The attorney for the families, Raj Parekh, stated that Elsheikh remained “defiantly remorseless and unrepentant” during his sentencing.
According to him, the jihadist made no effort to meet the families of the victims.
At sentencing, the court heard from several of the victims’ loved ones, including James Foley, an American journalist.
Diane Foley (middle), mother of James Foley, and Carl and Marsha Mueller, parents of Kayla Mueller, address the media following El Shafee Elsheikh’s sentencing.
ISIS “Beatles” Alexanda Kotey (left) and El Shafee Elsheikh (right) (right). Due of their English accents, the group was known to as the English Accents.
El Shafee Elsheikh (middle) during his September 11, 2011 arrest at an EDL counter-protest in central London
His mother, Diane Foley, stated, “This trial has revealed the heinous violations of human rights you perpetrated as a member of ISIS. Your hatred has replaced your humanity.
The accusations against Elsheikh, whose British citizenship was revoked in 2018, contained a potential death sentence, but in a bargain with British officials, US prosecutors decided not to seek his execution.
Elsheikh’s trial and the dramatic testimony of his victims’ families captivated observers on both sides of the Atlantic, and his sentencing was met with gloomy approbation by US and UK politicians.
“This case exposes the nasty and depraved ISIS Beatles,” said First Assistant US Attorney Raj Parekh, emphasizing that Elsheikh and the other Beatles always came in front of their victims wearing masks.
Commander Richard Smith, head of counterterrorism for London’s Metropolitan Police Service, stated in a statement to DailyMail.com, “This is one of the most significant international terrorism cases ever brought to trial.”
Kayla Mueller’s parents, Carl and Marsha Mueller, address to media outside the Albert V. Bryan Federal Courthouse following El Shafee Elsheikh’s sentencing.
On April 1, El Shafee Elsheikh, 34, is depicted in a courtroom drawing. Because they possessed British accents, ‘The Beatles’ tortured and murdered American and British hostages.
Both Alexanda Amon Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh were prosecuted in the United States. Kotey pled guilty and was likewise given a life term in prison.
Photos shot by a Syrian journalist in 2014 depicted the ISIS jail in Sheikh Najjar, Syria, where Western detainees were supposedly held for months.
According to one captive, the basement was separated into two distinct portions, the first of which was converted into approximately 14 drab solitary cells and the second into 12 single cells and three large rooms.
He continued, “These were some of the most heinous terrorist crimes ever witnessed, committed with chilling callousness and savagery.”
I hope that the fact that these incredibly dangerous men have been brought to justice will provide some solace to those most impacted.
He continued, “This is a time to commemorate all of the victims, including the innocents who were senselessly murdered and the surviving captives who endured unfathomable atrocities at the hands of El Shafee Elsheikh and his co-defendant Alexanda Kotey.”
In providing investigators and the court their versions of what transpired, they’ve demonstrated amazing courage and resolve.
According to authorities, Elsheikh is the most notorious and highest-ranking member of the Islamic State to ever be convicted in a U.S. court.
In January of this year, a jury found him guilty of a multitude of horrible acts, thus his life sentence was a given conclusion.
“ISIS Beatles,” includes Jihadi John, the ringleader who distributed online beheading videos and murdered British aid workers.
Jihadi John
Mohammed Emwazi – Jihadi John
Emwazi was one of the most notable members of the so-called ISIS Beatles and was frequently depicted carrying out executions in the terrorist organization’s gruesome beheading films.
He participated in the brutal beheadings of British relief workers David Haines and Alan Henning, American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and American aid worker Peter Kassig.
Born in Kuwait and raised in Queen’s Park, West London, the terrorist was accused in November 2014 with 27 charges of murder and five counts of hostage taking.
In 2015, he was killed in Syria by a Hellfire missile drone attack.
George – Alexanda Kotey
Kotey, 38, was born to a Ghanaian father and a Greek Cypriot mother in London’s Shepherd’s Bush neighborhood, where he grew up.
Before becoming radicalized, he likely worked as a drug dealer in his early 20s. He then converted to Islam.
In 2012, he departed for Syria, where the United States alleges he was involved in beheadings and was notorious for administering “exceptionally harsh torture methods,” including electric shocks.
He is also accused of acting as a recruiter for ISIS, persuading a number of British fanatics to join the terrorist organization.
Kotey was caught in Syria in 2018 while attempting to flee to Turkey and was imprisoned at a US military facility in Iraq.
The British Government desired that he be tried in the United States, where officials feel there is a greater likelihood of prosecution than in the United Kingdom.
He was extradited and charged with a number of terror offenses last year.
El Shafee Elsheikh – Ringo
Elsheikh, who was born in Sudan and raised in West London, is the last of the four British terrorists who went to join ISIS.
After traveling to Syria to join the terrorist group, he has been implicated to the murder of multiple captives.
He was captured alongside Kotey in 2018 when they attempted to flee to Turkey. He has since been transported to the United States, where he faces terrorism and beheading allegations.
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