--- description: The Federal Bureau of Investigation has called on members of the public to help identify fellow citizens who have left or are planning to leave the country in order to join a terrorist organization abroad. title: FBI Asks Public to Identify ISIS Recruits image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8abc3c9d053c0e9b/69875f24428a9e1107cc45da/unsub1.jpg?branch=production&width=1440&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [National Security](/tag/national-security/) ## National Security Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The FBI Wants Your Help IDing American ISIS Fighters  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 7, 2014 7:48 PM CUT  Federal Bureau of Investigation  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 7, 2014 7:48 PM CUT The Federal Bureau of Investigation has [called](http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2014/october/help-identify-individuals-traveling-overseas-for-combat/help-identify-individuals-traveling-overseas-for-combat "undefined") on members of the public to help identify fellow citizens who have left or are planning to leave the United States in order to join militant jihadi groups like the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria, or ISIS. “We need the public’s assistance in identifying U.S. persons going to fight overseas with terrorist groups or who are returning home from fighting overseas,” said Michael Steinbach, assistant director of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division said in a [statement](http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2014/october/help-identify-individuals-traveling-overseas-for-combat/help-identify-individuals-traveling-overseas-for-combat "undefined"). In addition to launching an online tip [form](https://tips.fbi.gov/digitalmedia/ISILtips "undefined"), the agency released an edited ISIS video which shows a masked man fluently switching between English and Arabic. “We’re hoping that someone might recognize this individual and provide us with key pieces of information,” Steinbach said. “No piece of information is too small.” The national outreach campaign comes on the heels of a targeted campaign in Minneapolis where agents distributed business cards to community leaders asking for tips about anybody with travel plans to foreign countries where they might join in armed combat. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3478983/fbi-american-isis/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3478983/fbi-american-isis/"},"headline":"The FBI Wants Your Help IDing American ISIS Fighters","datePublished":"2014-10-07T19:48:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:38:20.981Z","description":"“No piece of information is too small\"","url":"https://time.com/3478983/fbi-american-isis/","keywords":["National Security","Terrorism","ISIS","FBI","Counterterrorism"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8abc3c9d053c0e9b/69875f24428a9e1107cc45da/unsub1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kedmey","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8abc3c9d053c0e9b/69875f24428a9e1107cc45da/unsub1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"UNSUB1","caption":"","creditText":"Federal Bureau of Investigation","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/national-security/","name":"National Security"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3478983/fbi-american-isis/","name":"The FBI Wants Your Help IDing American ISIS Fighters"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Why So Many Foreign Fighters Join ISIS","description":"A growing number of foreigners is joining the Islamic militant group - but why?","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/xvTQSd5R/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-09-05T19:18:34.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/xvTQSd5R.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3478983/fbi-american-isis/","duration":"PT2M58S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3478983/fbi-american-isis/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```