NBC Talks to American Who Tried to Join Islamic State: ‘I Just Consider Myself to Be a Practicing Muslim’

Prior to his return to the U.S. and subsequent arrest on for unlawful weapons possession, NBC News tracked down the 44-year-old american citizen who unsuccessfully attempted to join Islamic State militants in Syria.

NBC

Don Morgan, originally from North Carolina, was reportedly born Catholic but later converted to Islam in 2008 after divorcing his wife. In January, he reportedly traveled to Lebanon in an attempt to make his way to Syria to fight with the radical terrorist group known as the Islamic State.

In an exclusive interview previously conducted in Beirut, Morgan told NBC News that he decided to support the Islamic State “because they’ve proven time and time again to put Islamic law as the priority and the establishment of an Islamic state as the goal.”

He also said he doesn’t consider himself to be a “radical,” but rather just a “practicing Muslim.”

"It was months and months and months of asking Allah to guide me or to give me the answers I needed," he told NBC News.

When he traveled back to the United States, he was met by police at JFK airport in New York City and arrested for unlawful weapons possession. He has since been transferred back to his home state of North Carolina.

This story will be updated with video from NBC's interview with Morgan as it becomes available.