DETROIT (WXYZ) — An Ypsilanti man the U.S. attorney says has expressed support for ISIS is asking that he be released from federal prison over concerns about contracting the coronavirus.
31-year-old Yousef Ramadan has been in the Milan correctional facility for the last 2 years. He was hit with weapons charges, not terror charges, but the U.S. Attorney says there is ample evidence that he poses a risk to public safety.
Ramadan was arrested in 2017 boarding a flight with his family at Detroit Metro Airport with one-way tickets to Jordan. The feds say Ramadan was traveling with a host of weapons, combat gear and a remote-controlled aerial drone.
His attorney Richard Korn says Ramadan “has no history of any violent conduct.”
“The government is treating him as if he is a terrorist when there’s really no evidence that he is,” Korn said.
The U.S. attorney says Ramadan also had over 1,500 pictures and videos of violent ISIS propaganda, a picture of a homemade pipe bomb, and pictures of himself holding weapons and making an ISIS hand gesture.
His attorney said Ramadan does not support ISIS.
“He has made it very clear to the government that he has no sympathy for violence and he has no sympathy for the advocacy of violence that is really the essence of ISIS,” Korn said.
The feds also found a storage locker in Ramadan’s wife’s name containing ammunition, a silencer and firearms, including some whose serial numbers had been removed.
Ramadan’s attorney says his client is more susceptible to COVID-19 because he suffers from diabetes and asthma, but the feds contend none of his medical records show that to be true.
If convicted, Ramadan faces more than 10 years in prison.
