John Walker Lindh, the American captured in Afghanistan in 2001 fighting for the Taliban, was freed early from federal prison on Thursday after serving 17 years amid concerns he might still harbor extremist views.
John Walker Lindh, the American captured in Afghanistan in 2001 fighting for the Taliban, was freed early from federal prison on Thursday after serving 17 years amid concerns he might still harbor extremist views.
U. S. President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House that he had asked government lawyers whether the release could be stopped but said nothing could be done.
“What bothers me more than anything else is that here’s a man who has not given up his proclamation of terror, and we have to let him out. Am I happy about it? Not even a little bit,” Trump said.
Lindh, who was 20 years old when captured, left the prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, on Thursday morning, the Federal Bureau of Prisons said. He had been sentenced to 20 years after pleading guilty in 2002 to charges of supplying services to the Taliban and carrying an explosive during the commission of a felony.
Lindh is among dozens of prisoners to be released during the next few years after being captured in Iraq and Afghanistan and convicted of terrorism-related crimes following the attacks on the United States by al Qaeda on Sept.
