Sean Andrew Duncan, 21, of Sterling, Virginia, was indicted by a federal grand jury for obstructing a terrorism investigation, accused of destroying digital evidence moments before FBI agents stormed his home. Duncan allegedly snapped a thumb drive into pieces, tossed the memory chip into a bubbling liquid, and hurled the bag at agents as he fled barefoot out the back door.
The indictment unsealed in Alexandria details a years-long FBI probe into Duncan’s suspected radicalization. In February 2016, the FBI was alerted by a relative that Duncan had converted to Islam, voiced support for beheadings of Westerners in the Middle East, and had attempted to travel to Turkey—where he was denied entry and sent back to the U.S. After returning, he wiped his Facebook account and changed his phone number, raising further suspicion.
By June 2017, investigators learned Duncan had communicated with an individual detained abroad for plotting to join ISIS. The indictment reveals that around February 2015, Duncan told her he wanted to make ‘hijrah’ to Syria and urged her to come with him. When she complained about female coworkers wearing shorts, Duncan sent a link to ‘How to build a bomb in the kitchen of your Mom’—an article from the ISIS-linked Inspire magazine.
A foreign ISIS recruiter, known as Recruiter 1, was arrested in October 2017 for inciting rebellion and funneling recruits via social media. Authorities found handwritten notes listing a contact named ‘Sean Ibn Gary Duncan’ with his old phone number and messaging account—directly tying him to the terror network’s outreach efforts.
On October 6, 2017, the Allegheny County Police Department handed over a forensic copy of Duncan’s phone, obtained during an investigation into the death of his infant child—autopsy results were inconclusive. The FBI’s review revealed repeated searches for ISIS attacks, weapons, body armor, surveillance tactics, and paintball venues in Pennsylvania between March and June 2017.
On December 29, 2017, FBI agents executed a search warrant at Duncan’s Virginia residence. After knocking and announcing their presence twice with no response, agents forced entry. Seconds before they breached the front door, Duncan bolted out the back, clutching something in his fist. He threw a clear Ziploc bag—containing a shattered memory chip submerged in a frothy liquid—at agents before being apprehended. A broken thumb drive casing was later found on his person. Duncan now faces federal charges for obstruction of a terrorism investigation.
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Key Facts
- State: Virginia
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Cybercrime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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