AP FACT CHECK: No arrests from 7 nations in travel ban? Nope

A federal judge that halted Pres. Trump’s controversial travel ban had been incorrect in claiming that no arrests were made for extremism during the terrorist attacks of 2001.

This past October, a refugee from Iraq residing in the state of Texas was charged after he was caught offering support to an Islamic State group. The man was accused of participating in tactical training. He was willing to be blown up for martyrdom. One month later, a refugee from Somalia had injured 11 different people during a knife and car attack. This took place atOhio State University. The refugee had beenshot and killed by law enforcement, so no arrests were made.

James Robart, the judge preceding over the case, pointed out that the highest-profile and deadliest terrorist attack on American soil that transpired since 9/11 – specifically the shootings that happened in both San Bernardino and Orlando, as well as Boston Marathon bombings – had been committed by either citizens of America, or by individuals from non-Muslim countries. Trump had mistakenly named seven countries with a predominantly Muslim populationand associated them with terrorist attacks against the USA.

To no surprise, Trump took a step further at a Seattle hearing this past Friday.

The president asked a lawyer from the Justice Department about the amount of arrests that were made of nationals from foreign countries since 9/11. The lawyer did not know how to answer Trump’s question, so Robart provided an answer for her:

The University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill’s sociology professor, Charles Kurzman, claims that no Americans were killed because of the actions of individuals originating from the countries Trump named as threats (Yemen, Sudan, Syria, Somalia, Libya, Iraq, and Iran). However, that is not to say that anyone from those countries were accused of or arrested for extremist-related plots while residing in America.

For instance, besides the cases that emanated from last autumn, two Iraqi men in Kentucky were arrested in 2011. They were charged and convicted with plotting to send weapons and money to Al Qaeda.

However, they weren’t accused of plotting an attack on the USA. A week ago, Kellyanne Conway, an advisor for Trump, cited a case incorrectly as The “Bowling Green Massacre,” an event that does not exist.

When all is said and done, Kurtzman believes 23% of American Muslims that have participated in extremist plots had family from one of the 7 countries Trump mentioned.