RAQQA — Local ISIS fighter Ali Rabadi was recently decapitated after taking a knee during Muslim prayer to protest the treatment of Shia minorities, sources confirmed today.

ISIS commander Kalid Al-Nabk said his problem was not with Rabadi’s views, but his way of expressing them. “I hate to see oppression of minorities just as much as the next radical conservative, but you can’t just disrespect the caliphate like that," he said.

However, some religious scholars disagree.

“Ali was free to express himself however he wanted,” said Imam Khaleid, who sentenced Rabadi to death. “But he also has to consider the consequences of that expression. If you don’t like how things are done in this group, there are others ways to express yourself that we would silence with equal tenacity.”

For many Americans, the barbaric act is yet another confirmation of the importance of the US-led mission in Iraq and Syria.

“I’m so glad we’re over there to stop those free-speech-hating bastards,” said US Army veteran Toby Sutherland. “They won’t let anyone believe differently, and when someone chooses to speak up, they find a ridiculous reason to silence it. It’s nothing like America, where free speech is the very first law our founders wrote, and we honor it, even if we disagree with what someone says or it makes us uncomfortable.”

Khaleid is confident that the beheading is no threat to the strength of ISIS in the area.

“Rabadi was a second-string, washed-up fighter who was probably just taking a knee for publicity. Plus, I didn’t see him doing anything for Shia Muslims in his personal life. It’s completely impossible that what he supported could be legitimate.”