The outcome of Manhattan’s first Islamic State-related terrorism trial may hinge on the testimony of family members of a New York college student who died in Syria, a likelihood illustrated last week when a legal fight erupted over photographs that may confirm his death.
The yet-to-occur testimony by the family members in the trial of an Arizona man, Ahmed Mohammed el-Gammal, was promised in opening statements by Southern District assistant U.S. attorney Andrew DeFilippis. He told jurors the family members could describe how the student, Samy el-Goarany, acted before he headed to Syria in January 2015 to join the Islamic State.
