CA4: Seizure of Nazi materials in a SW for an ISIL suspect was reasonable because both are defined as terrorist organizations

Defendant was alleged to be connected to ISIL, and, in a terrorism investigation, the government executed a search warrant at his home. Seizure of Nazi materials wasn’t outside the scope of the search warrant: “a reasonable officer would be able to draw on common knowledge to conclude that the Nazis’ threats and use of violence as a means of achieving their political ends meant that Nazis engaged in terroristic activity ….” United States v. Young, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 4998 (4th Cir. Feb. 21, 2019):

We conclude the seizure of the items here did not exceed the scope of the warrant. First, as the district court correctly recognized, even if Nazi organizations are not designated FTOs, a reasonable officer would be able to draw on common knowledge to conclude that the Nazis’ threats and use of violence as a means of achieving their political ends meant that Nazis engaged in terroristic activity as defined by the U.S. Code and Black’s Law Dictionary. See also United States v. Young, 260 F. Supp. 3d 530, 554-55 (E.D. Va. 2017). Second, some of the items illustrated a historical and present-day connection between Nazism and radical Islamism. Third, the Criminal Complaint Affidavit provided examples of Young’s affiliation with both Nazism and radical Islamism: the Affidavit described how Young had told law enforcement he had dressed up both as a “Jihadi John” and a Nazi, had collected Nazi memorabilia, and had a tattoo of a German eagle on his neck. J.A. 43. Given this information, agents reasonably concluded both that Nazis qualified as a terrorist organization and that as to this particular case, the Nazi paraphernalia was relevant to or probative of material support for a terrorist organization. For these reasons, we conclude the district court did not err in declining to suppress these items.