'American Al Qaeda' Charged With Treason

WASHINGTON, Oct. 11, 2006 — -- Adam Gadahn, a former resident of Orange County, Calif., turned propagandist for al Qaeda has been indicted by a federal grand jury for treason and for providing material support to al Qaeda.

Since 2004, Gadahn has appeared in a series of videos in which he praises the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers and claimed, "The streets of America shall run red with blood." The first video of Gadahn was initially aired by ABC News in October 2004.

"Adam Gadahn is an American citizen who made a choice. He chose to join our enemy and to provide it with aid and comfort by acting as a propagandist for al Qaeda," U.S. Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty said in announcing the indictment.

Gadahn, who has also called himself Azzam the American in Internet videos, is the first person to face treason charges in the United States since a l U.S.-Japanese citizen was charged in 1952 for abusing U.S. prisoners of war during World War II.

Other famous treason charges included the case of Iva Ikuko Toguri d'Aquino, aka Tokyo Rose, who broadcast propaganda during the war to demoralize U.S. soldiers. The indictment charging him with treason used his own words as the basis for the charge.

In a September 2005 video, he described the 9/11 attacks as "the blessed raids on New York and Washington." In the same video he threatened, "Yesterday, London and Madrid. Tomorrow, Los Angeles and Melbourne, Allah willing."

While many Americans reflected during the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Gadahn called the United States "enemy soil" in a video released that day.

The indictment does not include information on any specific terrorist plots or mention his relations with senior al Qaeda planners, and some legal scholars say the treason charge is an unusual one to pursue.

"While there appears to be ample basis for a material support charge, the treason charge could prove more difficult to sustain," George Washington University professor Jonathan Turley said. "First and foremost, there is the absence of any traditional definition of an enemy state."