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On Thursday, 32-year-old Romeo Xavier Langhorne was sentenced to 20 years for allegedly attempting to provide material support to ISIS.
Romeo Xavier Langhorne, from St. Augustine, Florida, was first arrested for the charge on November 15, 2019. Earlier in February that year, he had allegedly asked an undercover agent for help in making a video tutorial on how to make Triacetone Triperoxide (TATP), which could be used for explosives.
Langhorne first pleaded guilty to the charge in the Middle District of Florida on May 13, 2021. As per court documents, authorities believe he has been affiliated with ISIS since 2014. Within four years, he was reportedly posting pro-ISIS content on his YouTube account.
How was Romeo Xavier Langhorne arrested?
According to Fox News, Romeo Xavier Langhorne first pledged allegiance to ISIS in 2014, when he began corresponding with other radicals in online chatrooms used for recruiting purposes.
While Romeo Xavier Langhorne began by producing propaganda and pro-ISIS material for the organization, he reportedly aspired to teach followers how to make TATP - an explosive material which could be used for future terrorist attacks.
Having noted the signs of ISIS affiliation in his online history, authorities began to monitor Langhorne. He eventually reached out to an undercover officer asking for help with the TATP videos.
In a statement on Friday, FBI Jacksonville Special Agent in Charge Sherri E. Onks said:
"The willingness of this dangerous individual to go to great lengths to harm innocent Americans was always very real, but through hard work and determination, the FBI Jacksonville Joint Terrorism Task Force successfully disrupted his plan early on, and averted a threat to the safety of our community."
Langhorne allegedly told the undercover agent that since the explosive-making tutorial videos would be flagged as educational, they could not be taken down. In an official statement by the FBI, Langhorne also allegedly pledged his allegiance to former ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
The FBI did make a tutorial video about TATP, but with an inert formula that would not really explode. Once the video was sent to him, Langhorne uploaded it to the internet. He was arrested shortly after.
In an official release, U.S. Attorney Roger Handberg thanked law enforcement organizations for the arrest of Langhorne.
The statement read:
“Due to the outstanding cooperation and coordination by our law enforcement partners, great harm to our community was prevented. I applaud the diligence of those who worked expeditiously to disrupt this threat to our public’s safety.”
Following his 20 year sentence in prison, Langhorne will be required to live under supervised release for 15 years.
