George Washington University is no longer employing one of its most controversial researchers—a former al-Qaeda recruiter who spent three years in U.S. prison—after he was arrested on drug and prostitution charges in December.
The university hired Jesse Morton last September as part of its program on extremism, where he studied radicalization and de-radicalization. He did not teach classes or interact with students, university spokesman Brett Zongker said.
Zongker confirmed that, as of Jan. 2, Morton was no longer consulting for the university, and “the reasons for his departure are unrelated to his work with the Program on Extremism.”
Morton converted to Islam at age 20, when he was serving prison time for drug offenses. He used his website, Revolution Muslim, to recruit for al-Qaeda and to encourage violent attacks on critics of Islam, including cartoonists and the writers of “South Park.”
Morton was sentenced to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to solicit murder and other charges. Prosecutors called him a threat to the “very freedoms on which our society is based.” But after becoming an informant for the federal government, Morton was released after less than three years behind bars.
Morton, 38, was arrested again at a hotel in late December after soliciting a prostitute on Backpage.com. Police said they also found cocaine and drug paraphernalia on him.