NEW YORK _ A suspected ISIS supporter believed to be among the world's most influential will stand trial in Manhattan, prosecutors said Friday.
Following his extradition to New York City late Thursday from Jamaica, Shaikh Faisal, 56 _ also known as Trevor William Forrest _ was arraigned in Manhattan Supreme Court on a multitude of charges stemming from his deep ties to the global terrorist organization.
Prosecutors described him as one of the world's most influential radical Islamist preachers.
Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said Faisal "has spent two decades inspiring the terrorists behind plots and attacks in London, New York and onboard airplanes in flight."
"As outlined in these charges, Faisal actively encouraged and facilitated the recruitment of an NYPD undercover officer into ISIS, a terrorist organization behind murder and bloodshed in this city," Shea said.
Faisal was arrested outside his St. James, Jamaica, home on Aug. 25, 2017, and indicted by Manhattan prosecutors for recruiting supporters and helping them join ISIS. He had battled extradition until Thursday.
In 2017, he was designated a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control.
"In addition to shutting down Faisal's dangerous rhetoric and his recruitment of new terrorists, the effects of his arrest have been felt across the counterterrorism community worldwide, which has gained actionable intelligence thanks to our seizure of numerous electronics from his home," Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said in a statement.
