* **21 Egyptian Coptic Christians** were abducted by ISIS in Sirte, Libya.
* ISIS released a video on **15 February 2015** showing their execution on a beach.
* The victims were mostly Egyptian migrant workers from Minya, Egypt.
* The Egyptian Coptic Church and Egyptian government subsequently commemorated them as martyrs.
* In 2021, the remains of the victims were returned to Egypt after being recovered in Libya.
One detail in the meme should be treated more cautiously: the statement that **all 21 men were heard saying “Jesus, I love you” as their last words** is widely circulated in Christian accounts, but establishing the exact final words of each individual from independent contemporary evidence is more difficult.
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This was one of the most widely documented ISIS atrocities against Christians in Libya during the period when ISIS controlled territory around **Sirte**.
### What happened
The victims were **21 Christian migrant workers**—20 Egyptians, most of them Coptic Christians, and one Ghanaian Christian. They had gone to Libya to find work and support their families. According to U.S. government reporting, ISIS kidnapped them in **two incidents during December 2014 and January 2015**. ([State.gov][1])
On **15 February 2015**, ISIS's Libyan branch, calling itself the **"Tripoli Province,"** released a professionally produced propaganda video showing the captives on a beach near Sirte and their subsequent execution. ISIS explicitly presented the men as Christians and described them as "crusaders." The U.S. State Department recorded that ISIS claimed responsibility and that the victims were targeted because of their religion. ([U.S. State Department][2])
So the basic claim in the image you posted—that **21 Christians were killed by ISIS in Libya because of their Christian identity—is supported by contemporary records**.
### Why were Christians working in Libya?
This is an important part of the story.
After the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya entered prolonged political and armed conflict. Large numbers of Egyptian workers continued going to Libya for employment despite the deteriorating security situation. The victims were mostly ordinary laborers from **Minya Governorate in Upper Egypt**, rather than soldiers or political figures. ([Coptic Solidarity][3])
The killings therefore also illustrate the vulnerability of migrant workers during Libya's civil conflict.
### Egypt's response
The Egyptian government responded with military action. Within a day of the video's release, Egypt carried out **airstrikes against ISIS targets in Libya**, including targets around Derna and Sirte, in coordination with Libyan authorities. ([Ahram Online][4])
The killings also received condemnation internationally. Then-U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry publicly condemned the murder of the 21 Coptic Christians at a White House summit on **18 February 2015**. ([U.S. State Department][5])
### What happened to their bodies?
For more than two years, their remains were not recovered.
After ISIS was driven from Sirte in 2016, Libyan authorities eventually located a mass grave near the coast. In **October 2017**, authorities announced that they had found the bodies of the 21 victims. DNA testing was subsequently used to identify them. ([U.S. Department of State][6])
In **May 2018**, the remains of the Egyptian victims were returned to Egypt and received by **Pope Tawadros II**, head of the Coptic Orthodox Church. ([Al Jazeera][7])
The Coptic Church officially commemorates the men as **martyrs of Libya**.
### About the "Jesus, I love you" claim
There is an interesting distinction here.
The original ISIS video contains audio of some of the captives invoking **Jesus** immediately before their deaths. The Coptic tradition consequently remembers them as having died confessing Christ. Pope Francis, commemorating them in 2021, likewise said they died uttering **"Lord Jesus."** ([Vatican][8])
However, the specific English quotation **"Jesus, I love you"** that appears in the meme is a later formulation and should not be presented as a verified verbatim statement made by all 21 men. The underlying fact—that some of the victims invoked Jesus—is much better documented.
### One particularly important historical point
The incident wasn't an isolated act by a few unidentified extremists. **ISIS's Libyan branch deliberately used the killing as propaganda.** The video was designed to communicate several messages simultaneously: intimidation of Christians, propaganda aimed at Egypt and Western countries, and ISIS's claim that it had established a territorial presence in Libya.
The U.S. State Department subsequently designated **ISIL-Libya as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in May 2016** and specifically listed the kidnapping and execution of the 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians among its activities. ([U.S. State Department][9])
There was eventually also a judicial response in Libya: according to the U.S. State Department's 2023 religious-freedom report, a Misrata court sentenced **23 people to death and 14 to life imprisonment in 2023** for involvement in the ISIS campaign that included the killing and filming of the 21 Christians. ([State.gov][10])
[1]: https://2021-2025.state.gov/reports/country-reports-on-terrorism-2021/?utm_source=chatgpt.com "Country Reports on Terrorism 2021 - United States Department of State"
[2]: https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2015/nea/256279.htm?utm_source=chatgpt.com "Report on International Religious Freedom"
[3]: https://www.copticsolidarity.org/2018/05/15/bodies-of-20-egyptian-christians-beheaded-in-libya-arrive-in-egypt/?utm_source=chatgpt.com "Bodies of 20 Egyptian Christians beheaded in Libya arrive in Egypt - Coptic Solidarity"
[4]: https://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/299446/Egypt/Politics-/No-notice-yet-of-return-date-of--Egyptian-IS-victi.aspx?utm_source=chatgpt.com "No notice yet of return date of 20 Egyptian IS victims' bodies from Libya: Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church - Politics - Egypt - Ahram Online"
[5]: https://2009-2017.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2015/02/237591.htm?utm_source=chatgpt.com "Remarks at the White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism"
[6]: https://2017-2021.state.gov/reports/2017-report-on-international-religious-freedom/libya/?utm_source=chatgpt.com "Libya - United States Department of State"
[7]: https://www.aljazeera.com/video/2018/5/15/libya-returns-beheaded-bodies-to-egypt?utm_source=chatgpt.com "Libya returns beheaded bodies to Egypt | Human Rights News | Al Jazeera"
[8]: https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/pont-messages/2021/documents/papa-francesco_20210215_videomessaggio-martiri-copti.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com "The Holy See"
[9]: https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2016/05/257388.htm?utm_source=chatgpt.com "Terrorist Designations of ISIL-Yemen, ISIL-Saudi Arabia, and ISIL-Libya"
[10]: https://2021-2025.state.gov/reports/2023-report-on-international-religious-freedom/libya/?utm_source=chatgpt.com "Libya - United States Department of State"
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