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They were raised in a two-story brick house on a quiet Plano residential street, across from a church and a park. They went to good schools and enjoyed video games and music like their friends.

But Arman, 27, and Omar Ali, 26, would not follow the path of most Plano kids leaving home to start a life.

After some college study, the brothers moved to Egypt and then traveled to Syria to fight alongside ISIS terrorists, according to federal court records.

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In October 2014, Arman emailed his father a link to a video of an ISIS military parade in Libya. In the email, Arman talked about others who had traveled from the U.S. to join ISIS, according to federal court records.

In November, Arman sent his mother an email with his travel itinerary. She shared it with her husband. Arman and Omar traveled from Egypt to Syria via Turkey to fight for ISIS in late 2014, court records show.

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Arman attended the University of Texas at Austin from fall 2008 to spring 2011 but did not earn a degree, a university spokesperson said. His LinkedIn page said he studied neurobiology and religion at the school.

It said he earned a bachelor's degree in Arab and Islamic civilization from The American University in Cairo in 2014. Arman's LinkedIn page also said he earned a master's degree in Islamic studies from the school. The university declined to confirm that, saying its policy is not to release student information without their consent.

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A Texas college friend who asked that his name be withheld because he didn't want to be associated with Arman said he arrived at UT-Austin as a "pretty normal kid."

But he became religious during his second year and gradually grew more orthodox.

Arman was no longer playing soccer, basketball and video games with friends. He was spending more time at the mosque, he said. He grew a beard and started listening to Alex Jones, a conspiracy theorist who runs Infowars.
Arman watched news constantly, said the friend, who recalled last speaking to him in 2013. He became disillusioned by the 2008 economic recession, and he soured on Western culture.
"It had a big effect on him ... he thought we were going down on the wrong path," he said. "He started researching different government structures."

His grades suffered, however, and he dropped out of school, the friend said. Arman told people he was going to Egypt to take part in the Arab Springpro-Democracy uprisings that swept the Middle East beginning in 2011, the friend said.

"He said he left to join the fight," the friend said. "No one wants to see a friend go to a war zone."

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ghollow said:

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A Texas college friend who asked that his name be withheld because he didn't want to be associated with Arman said he arrived at UT-Austin as a "pretty normal kid."
He became disillusioned by the 2008 economic recession, and he soured on Western culture.
"It had a big effect on him ... he thought we were going down on the wrong path," he said.

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Arman attended the University of Texas at Austin from fall 2008 to spring 2011 but did not earn a degree, a university spokesperson said. His LinkedIn page said he studied neurobiology and religion at the school.

It said he earned a bachelor's degree in Arab and Islamic civilization from The American University in Cairo in 2014. Arman's LinkedIn page also said he earned a master's degree in Islamic studies from the school. The university declined to confirm that, saying its policy is not to release student information without their consent.

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up-n-aTm said:

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