Marvin Henderson was a twenty-four year old African American graduate student at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, a school that black students only comprise two percent of. He had lived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin his whole life and attended a small private school that was predominantly white. He had never felt as if he fit in, but there were no allegations of bullying or abuse by peers or family.
In 2012, Henderson began online chatting with a man in a similar situation. This man, George Fullman, was an African American student at Kansas State University, a school with a three percent black student population. As the two began bonding over their marginalized feelings, Fullman began to introduce Henderson to the principles of the Islamic State of Iraq (ISIS). At first, Henderson was shocked and refused, based on what he knew about the violence and terrorism of the group. However, he was slowly convinced as Fullman informed him that violence was not required to feel a part of the ISIS community. Fullman informed Henderson that one of the main principles of ISIS is the joining of marginalized minorities and that they were people just like him. Fullman also convinced Henderson that he was being discriminated against and oppressed. Henderson made plans to attend a meeting of fellow minorities in the same position as him. However, his roommate, James Washington, was borrowing his computer for an assignment and saw a message pop up from Fullman. He clicked on it, and saw ISIS-related propaganda.
On October 23, 2012, the police received a call from Washington reporting ISIS-related material on Henderson’s computer. The police investigated the report with a warrant and discovered his ISIS membership. They then arrested him. Henderson was found guilty and was sentenced to thirty years in prison. He appealed to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which upheld the ruling, and he then appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States with freedom of religion as his defense. He claimed that he had found community within this group of people, not violence. His defense also claimed that he had no violent plans or means to act on his association.