Free Republic

The Army veteran who fought alongside rebels in Syria, only to be later accused of joining Al Qaeda-linked terrorists by the U.S., has died in Arizona of unknown causes, his family told ABC News. Eric Harroun, 32, succumbed to an "accidental overdose" according to his sister, but an official cause had not yet been released. The Phoenix-born man was first spotted in late 2012 by U.S. intelligence after he appeared in Youtube videos alongside Syrian fighters. In one such video, Harroun was the lone English speaker celebrating amongst rebels who had apparently downed a regime helicopter.

An Army veteran accused of fighting alongside an al-Qaida-affiliated group of Syrian rebels has been released from jail following a secret plea deal. Eric Harroun, 31, of Phoenix, had been charged with providing material support to a terrorist group and faced up to life in prison. But under a plea agreement entered Thursday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Harroun pleaded guilty to an obscure law regulating export of munitions. He was sentenced to time served. He had been jailed since returning to the U.S. in March. Prosecutors first accused Harroun of fighting alongside the terrorist group Jabhat al-Nusra, one...

Eric Harroun is an Arizona native who rioted with rebels in Cairo and fought in Syria for Al Qaeda affiliate Jabhat Al Nusra. **SNIP** Harroun's descent into Islamic fanaticism seems to have begun sometime after his discharge from the military. With seemingly no way to pursue his lifelong dream of being a soldier, he fell in with two Iraqi brothers, Maadh and Hayder Ibrahim, who he met while attending Pima Community College in Tucson, and began to identify himself as a Muslim, according to people who know him.

Doug Harroun was ready to hop in the car and head to church when he noticed a man slowly pacing in front of his neighbor's house in Bloomingdale. An off-duty Addison police officer, Harroun's gut instinct told him something wasn't right. He ran inside and called the Bloomingdale Police Department. As he described the situation to the dispatcher, the sound of shattering glass reverberated across the yard. "Tell the officers to watch for me. I'm going over there," he said. His neighbor was a single mom. Harroun's mind raced: What if she's home? What if the invader grabbed the butcher...