--- description: The attorney general says officials are actively working on ways to bring the ISIS operative to justice title: Eric Holder: We Will Hold 'Jihadi John' Accountable image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt18645cb7f3bb89e4/6987812ff887dc7feee8a54b/mohammed-emwazi.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [ISIS](/tag/isis/) ## ISIS Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Eric Holder: We Will Hold 'Jihadi John' Accountable by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 27, 2015 1:10 PM CUT  The ISIS militant who has been identified as a Briton named Mohammed Emwazi, seen in a propaganda video. The ISIS militant who has been identified as a Briton named Mohammed Emwazi, seen in a propaganda video.Reuters by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 27, 2015 1:10 PM CUT Attorney General Eric Holder [says](http://abcnews.go.com/ABCNews/jihadi-john-eric-holder-us-working-ways-kill/story?id=29257329 "undefined") U.S. officials are actively working to bring the ISIS fighter known as ‘Jihadi John’ to justice. The man seen in ISIS’s brutal hostage videos, sometimes decapitating people himself, was identified by news outlets like the [BBC](http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-31637090 "undefined") and the [Washington _Post_](http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/jihadi-john-the-islamic-state-killer-behind-the-mask-is-a-young-londoner/2015/02/25/d6dbab16-bc43-11e4-bdfa-b8e8f594e6ee%5Fstory.html "undefined") on Thursday as Mohammed Emwazi, a Londoner who is thought to have joined ISIS after traveling to Syria in 2012. In an interview with ABC News, Holder declined to confirm this identity, saying it would “cut back the operational possibilities that we have been considering.” Nevertheless, he says those possibilities of killing or capturing Jihadi John are indeed real. “I think there’s something to be said for holding \[him\] accountable, for getting at the people who are responsible for these barbaric acts, for using our military power to kill substantial numbers of them, and then also finding ways in which we can stop the flow of people to the fight.” **Read more:** [**Inside ISIS, A TIME Special Report**](http://time.com/inside-isis-a-time-special-report/ "undefined") “The vow that I can make to the American people,” he said, “along with our allies, is that we will hold accountable all the people who have been responsible for these heinous, barbaric acts.” \[[_ABC News_](http://abcnews.go.com/ABCNews/jihadi-john-eric-holder-us-working-ways-kill/story?id=29257329 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3725718/eric-holder-jihadi-john/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3725718/eric-holder-jihadi-john/"},"headline":"Eric Holder: We Will Hold 'Jihadi John' Accountable","datePublished":"2015-02-27T13:10:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T04:46:42.054Z","description":"The attorney general says officials are considering their options","url":"https://time.com/3725718/eric-holder-jihadi-john/","keywords":["ISIS","Eric Holder","attorney general","People"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt18645cb7f3bb89e4/6987812ff887dc7feee8a54b/mohammed-emwazi.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt18645cb7f3bb89e4/6987812ff887dc7feee8a54b/mohammed-emwazi.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Mohammed Emwazi","caption":"The ISIS militant who has been identified as a Briton named Mohammed Emwazi, seen in a propaganda video.","creditText":"Reuters","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/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/isis/","name":"ISIS"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3725718/eric-holder-jihadi-john/","name":"Eric Holder: We Will Hold 'Jihadi John' Accountable"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Inside ISIS and Al-Qaeda’s Battle for Brand Supremacy","description":"They may share similar goals but the two groups are bitter rivals","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/gK3s3WLk/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-02-04T23:06:56.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/gK3s3WLk.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3725718/eric-holder-jihadi-john/","duration":"PT5M16S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3725718/eric-holder-jihadi-john/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```