American ISIS Fighter With Maryland Ties: I Made A Bad Decision

BALTIMORE (WJZ)--An American man born in Maryland speaks out after he claims he deserted ISIS.

Mohamad Jamal Khweis says he left BWI airport and made his way to Iraq to join the terror group.

But a month in, he says he changed his mind and escaped.

Meghan McCorkell has more.

Kurdish officials say this video shows 26-year old Mohamed Jamal Khweis surrendering to fighters after deserting ISIS.

Speaking out on Kurdish TV, Khweis--who was born in Maryland--describes the weeks he spent with the terror group in Mosul, an ISIS stronghold.

"Our daily life was basically prayer, eating and learning about the religion for about eight hours," said Mohamad Jamal Khweis.

Khweis says he left BWI in December and traveled to Turkey, where he met a woman who arranged for him to join ISIS.

"She set up on the transportation from Turkey to Syria, Syria to Iraq," said Khweis.

But he claims he decided to escape when he started to question their ideology.

With a volatile reaction Khweis' family members in Alexandria, Virginia say they never knew he was in Iraq.

A Virginia driver's license was found on Khweis when he was taken into Kurdish custody.

A former classmate says the news is shocking.

"He definitely wasn't the type of person. He wasn't an angry person. He wasn't an outcast by any means," said Harrison Weinhold, a former classmate.

As for what made him decide to fight for ISIS in the first place? Khweis doesn't say.

"At the time I made the decision to go because I wasn't thinking straight," he says.

Khweis is believed to have vital information about how ISIS recruits members overseas. He is now being questioned by the FBI.

In his interview, Khweis says he did not meet any other Americans during his time with ISIS.

Department of Justice officials say they do plan to file charges against Khweis in the United States.