Minnesota Terror Suspect Pleads Not Guilty

U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger, shown at an April news conference, filed a 12-page brief Wednesday labeling Mohamed Abdihamid Farah a flight risk. PHOTO: EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY

By Ben Kesling
Thursday, June 11, 2015

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A Somali-American man pleaded not guilty Thursday in federal court in Minneapolis to four counts in connection with his alleged attempts to join Islamic State and was ordered held until his trial.

Mohamed Abdihamid Farah was labeled a flight risk in a brief filed Wednesday by Andrew Luger, the U.S. Attorney in Minnesota. The brief features new information that his immediate family allegedly knew of his scheme to fly to Syria to join Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL.

“Unlike the majority of crimes, in which flight is a means to avoid the consequences of one’s criminal behavior, in this case flight—flight to Syria to join ISIL—is itself the crime, as is violence,” prosecutors said in the brief. Prosecutors said pretrial release under his family’s supervision would be irresponsible and “ineffective in ensuring the safety of the community or his future appearance in court, because Defendant’s family was aware of his impending travel and did nothing to stop him.”

Mr. Farah allegedly said to a government informant that his mother and others knew of his plan to join Islamic State. “She knows where I’m going, bro, that’s the thing...” he said of his mother, according to federal prosecutors.

The young man also threatened to commit violence locally if he were unable to travel to Syria, according to the brief. Mr. Farah said, “if his back is put ‘against the wall,’ he will kill the federal agents investigating his case,” according to the brief.

Mr. Farah’s brother, Adnan, is also charged with attempting to travel to Syria. Six men from Minneapolis were arrested in April as they allegedly conspired to leave the country to join Islamic State. All six have pleaded not guilty.

“The government has not provided any evidence” of guilt, said Patrick Nwaneri, a lawyer for Mohamed Farah, who added that the young man’s parents deny any prior knowledge of any plans. Mr. Farah’s parents couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday.

A lawyer for Adnan Farah didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Mr. Luger’s office declined to comment further.

The latest government document is based on testimony from a cooperating defendant as well as a government informant.

Prosecutors allege that Mohamed Farah has plotted to travel to Syria since at least March 2014, and that he made two previous, failed attempts to leave the country to join Islamic State. He and a handful of other young men were arrested in April as they all tried to leave the country at roughly the same time after conspiring together to do so, according to authorities. The men all await trial in federal court on similar charges.

In November, Mr. Farah tried to travel to Syria, but was stopped and questioned by federal agents, according to prosecutors. He lied to agents saying he had planned on vacationing in Bulgaria for two days, according to the brief.

Mr. Farah was most recently arrested April 19 in San Diego as he allegedly tried to get a fake passport, travel to Mexico and then on to Syria.

Oral arguments in the case are slated for July 28.

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