Thursday October 22, 2015
By Ben Kesling
Five Minnesota men accused of attempting to join Islamic State have also been charged by a federal grand jury with conspiracy to murder overseas, the U.S. Attorney for Minnesota announced Wednesday.
The Somali-American men were part of a group of nine originally indicted in February for allegedly attempting to travel to the Middle East to join Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, according to the U.S. attorney. Three men have already pleaded guilty.The five whose additional counts were announced today, are set to begin trial in February. One man, who left the country, is believed to still be overseas, said a spokesman for the U.S. attorney.
The five men previously pleaded not guilty to all prior charges but haven't yet appeared to enter a plea on the charges announced today.Lawyers for one of the men couldn't be reached for comment. One lawyer declined to comment.
Kenneth Udoibok, lawyer for Adnan Farah, said he isn't surprised by the additional charges yet is disappointed by them.
“In all, I think the federal government is heavy handed in the prosecution of these cases,” Mr. Udoibok said. “He’s a 19-year-old whose actions are not understood and are taken for conspiracy to support a terrorist organization.”
Bruce Nestor, lawyer for Abdurahman Daud, said there is no compelling new evidence in the case and that the additional charges are politically motivated.
“These young men did not conspire to commit murder or any act of violence,” he said.
JaneAnne Murray, lawyer for Hamza Ahmed, said there is no evidence that murder was a goal of any defendant in the case.
U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger declined to comment further on the matter.
The group of men in 2014 allegedly began planning to travel to the Middle East to join Islamic State and worked together to elude law enforcement, though the Federal Bureau of Investigation used an informant in the 10-month investigation leading up to the arrests, according to prosecutors.
One man allegedly attempted to withdraw thousands of dollars from his federal financial aid account, intended for university education, to finance the travel, according to the U.S. attorney. He has also been charged with attempted fraud. Two of the men were charged with an additional count of perjury for false testimony to the grand jury.
The Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul have one of the largest Somali communities in the U.S., numbering some 75,000, according to recent law enforcement estimates. Youth from the community have previously been recruited and traveled overseas to join terror groups, including al-Shabaab, an al Qaeda affiliate in Somalia.