Terror suspect caught boarding plane to Turkey, FBI agent testified

People walk into the United States Courthouse ahead of the detention hearings for six young Somali-Americans accused of trying to sneak off to Syria in U.S. District Court in downtown St. Paul on Thursday, April 23, 2015. Photo: Leila Navidi, Dml - Star Tribune Star Tribune.

By Mila Koumpilova, Libor Jany, and Erin Golden
Thursday, April 23, 2015

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An FBI agent described Thursday in federal court in St. Paul how one of the men charged with trying to leave the Twin Cities to fight with Islamic extremists was arrested while boarding an Istanbul-bound flight at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

His destination was Syria, the agent said.

The agent also testified that a confidential informant who cooperated in the investigation of the six young Somali-Americans charged with trying join ISIS has been working with authorities since the start of 2015 and has been paid $12,725.54 by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

About 30 to 40 family and friends of the young men have filled the main courtroom and an overflow room at the courthouse in St. Paul for the Thursday morninghearing. They have generally refused to talk to the media. Outside the courthouse before the hearing, the mother of one of the suspects handed out T-shirts emblazoned with the slogan “Free Our Boys” and a picture of several of the men.

The four men were arrested Sunday in the Twin Cities, while two others were arrested the same day in San Diego, on their way to Mexico and a planned flight overseas. Federal authorities say they intended to join the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL. They are charged with conspiracy to aid and support a terrorist organization. All are between the ages of 19 and 21.

In St. Paul, U.S. Magistrate Judge Becky Thorson will determine if Zacharia Yusuf Abdurahman, Adnan Abdihamid Farah, Hanad Mustafe Musse and Guled Ali Omar should be released or held on the charges.

In San Diego, similar hearings are scheduled Thursday for Abdirahman Yasin Daud and Friday for Mohamed Abdihamid Farah. A hearing to decide if they should be sent back to Minnesota for court proceedings will be held next week.

Murmurs arose in the overflow courtroom as the FBI agent described the payment to the informant.

A prosecutor said the family of an informant who was a friend of the young men was getting threatening phone calls and tweets.

He added that these threats weren’t necessarily from the defendants’ families, but would be “intently” investigated.

Friends of the men posted messages on Twitter, urging supporters to rally on Thursday. Several expressed outrage about the arrests — and at the notion that a friend of the group had turned federal informant. Evidence gathered by investigators included several secretly recorded conversations.

In documents filed with the criminal complaint, authorities say the young men worked together to get passports, make travel plans and make their way to Syria.

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