Last week, it was reported that 20-year-old Jacks Letts had become the first white Brit to join Daesh, however his family have hit back against those claims. Dubbed “Jihadi Jack,” Letts reportedly left his home in Oxford and traveled to Syria a year ago. Recent reports claimed that he had married in Syria, had a child, and was a frontline fighter known as “Abu Muhammad.”
However his mother has defended her son, saying that those accusations are “absolutely ridiculous,” and that she was in regular contact with him. She spoke to the Standard this week, claiming that he was in Syria for humanitarian purposes.
“He is not a member of IS (Daesh), he is very probably not the first white convert that has gone out there. He does not have a son and is not known as Abu Mohammed,” she said.
“We spoke to him yesterday and he said he had never had a weapon in his life...he went out there for humanitarian purposes to help kids in Syrian refugee camps...it is not as if he is hiding anything - he tells us what he has for breakfast...all this is absolutely ridiculous, it is shocking.”
She even added that police have told her there is no evidence that Jack has done anything wrong.
She acknowledged that his family does fear for his safety, saying, “He is very naive, very misguided. He wanted to do good in the world and wanted to see for himself. The fact is he did not see the danger or think about his own safety.”
She appeared to confirm that Jack had indeed converted to Islam, but noted that it was his choice to choose his religion.
Jack allegedly told his parents he was traveling to Kuwait to learn Arabic, only telling them he had gone to Syria once he was there.
