Daniela Greene
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Daniela Greene is a German-raised American woman, who worked as translator for the
Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...
. She later travelled to ISIL-occupied Syria to become a ISIL bride.


Biography

Greene was born in
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
but raised in
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. She became an American citizen after marrying Matthew Greene, then serving in the US Armed Services in Germany, earning a
bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
in Oklahoma, and a
master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.
in history at
Clemson University Clemson University () is a public land-grant research university in Clemson, South Carolina. Founded in 1889, Clemson is the second-largest university in the student population in South Carolina. For the fall 2019 semester, the university enr ...
in 2008. Alan Grubb, her thesis supervisor, described her as one of his best students. Several years after her graduation, he wrote letters of recommendation that helped her get a job as a contract linguist with the FBI in 2011. In 2014, the FBI was conducting a covert investigation into
Denis Cuspert Denis Mamadou Gerhard Cuspert (18 October 1975 – 17 January 2018), also known by his stage name Deso Dogg and his '' nom de guerre'' Abu Talha al-Almani, was a German rapper who became a member of the Islamic State.Mekhennet, Souad. "Osama’s ...
. As part of that investigation, Greene was assigned to communicate with him over
Skype Skype () is a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for VoIP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls. It also has instant messaging, file transfer, deb ...
. Unknown to her FBI superiors, Greene used an additional Skype account to communicate with Cuspert. Greene told her FBI superiors she was going to use a vacation to visit relatives back in Germany, when in reality she had used her third, unauthorized Skype account to plan to meet Cuspert in
ISIL An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...
- occupied Syria. She told her FBI supervisors that she was leaving for Germany on June 11, 2014, and would return to
Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...
on July 4, but actually travelled to ISIL-territory via
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
instead. Greene married Cuspert in ISIL-occupied Syria.
CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
reported that Greene realized she had made a mistake within weeks of her arrival and found a way to return to the US, knowing she would face arrest and imprisonment. Commentators do not know how she was able to escape
ISIL An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...
when many other people were not able to escape. Greene was arrested, cooperated, and
pleaded guilty In legal terms, a plea is simply an answer to a claim made by someone in a criminal case under common law using the adversarial system. Colloquially, a plea has come to mean the assertion by a defendant at arraignment, or otherwise in response ...
. ''CNN'' reported that her charge and sentence was considerably lighter than those of other Americans who had merely made unsuccessful attempts to travel to ISIL territory. ''CNN'' quoted speculation that prosecutors asked for a light sentence to reward her for her cooperation. Greene was released after serving a two-year sentence and relocated to Syracuse, New York, where she found employment as a hostess at a hotel. In 2019, when ISIL's last enclave was collapsing, Greene was compared to Hoda Muthana, an
Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...
widow who had married a
Jihadi Jihadism is a neologism which is used in reference to "militant Islamic movements that are perceived as existentially threatening to the West" and "rooted in political Islam."Compare: Appearing earlier in the Pakistani and Indian media, Wes ...
fighter and then escaped to a refugee camp, and was determined to have never had US citizenship.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greene, Daniela 1980 births Living people 21st-century American women American translators Clemson University alumni Federal Bureau of Investigation Czechoslovak emigrants to the United States Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant members People with acquired American citizenship Czech Muslims Converts to Islam American Muslims