Search Results for: minnesota men
May 20, 2016 — Scott Johnson
Conspirator turned FBI informant Abdirahman Bashir testified all day Thursday. Bashir is one of three key witnesses, but if the prosecution has a star witness among them, it is probably Bashir. He is likely to remain on the stand through the half-day of the trial this morning. The highlight of Bashir’s testimony derives from his work undercover for the FBI once he turned informant in early 2014. He recorded conversations
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May 19, 2016 — Scott Johnson
Conspirator turned FBI informant Abdirahman Bashir continued his testimony this morning. Bashir sought to join ISIS in Syria during 2013 along with the defendants. Just before lunch he testified that the FBI told him they would help him get his job back at the airport if he cooperated. What??? Bashir would therefore have been employed at the airport while he was seeking to join ISIS. Assistant Untied States Attorney just
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May 19, 2016 — Scott Johnson
A minor witness testifying briefly yesterday made for a highly symbolic moment during the trial of the “Minnesota men” charged with conspiracy to provide material support to ISIS. In mid-afternoon The prosecution called Bashi Ibrahim to the stand. Ibrhaim required a Somali translator for his testimony. Though he arrived in Minnesota with the first wave of Somali immigrants almost 25 years ago, in 1992, he was unable to understand the
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May 18, 2016 — Scott Johnson
When the first group of “Minnesota men” were charged with conspiring to join ISIS in April 2015, it made headlines in page-one stories all over the country. Scott Shaen reported in the New York Times, for example, “6 Minnesotans held in plot to join ISIS.” In the Wall Street Journal Andrew Grossman shared a byline with two other reporters announcing “U.S. charges six Minnesota men with trying to join ISIS.”
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May 17, 2016 — Scott Johnson
Abdullahi Yusuf (pictured in the thumbnail on the home page) was the first three key prosecution witnesses to testify at trial. Yusuf has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide material assistance to ISIS by joining the group in Syria. Three of his alleged co-conspirators and “former friends,” as he called them, are the defendants on trial. Yusuf’s cross examination extended through mid-afternoon yesterday. Representing Abdirahman Daud, defense attorney Bruce Nestor
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May 14, 2016 — Scott Johnson
On Friday one of the prosecution’s three key witnesses took the stand at the trial of the three “Minnesota men” contesting the charges that they conspired to provide material support to ISIS. Abdullahi Yusuf is one of six “Minnesota men” who have pleaded guilty to the conspiracy (I’m using his mug shot for the thumbnail on the home page). Testifying under a cooperation agreement with the government, Yusuf provided a
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May 13, 2016 — Scott Johnson
Charles Lister remained on the witness stand for the entire day yesterday. He will retake the stand this morning. Lister is an expert on the Syrian civil war and the groups fighting it out. His most recent book is in fact The Syrian Jihad: Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State and the Evolution of an Insurgency. The government has called Lister to provide the background on ISIS in Syria, the intended destination
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May 12, 2016 — Scott Johnson
Things got interesting in court on Wednesday. Having seated the jurors at the end of the day on Tuesday, Judge Davis began the trial by reading the indictment and charging the jury on protocol. He then invited the parties to make their opening statements. Assistant United States Attorney Andrew Winter gave the opening statement on behalf of the government, previewing the evidence that the prosecutors will introduce to support their
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May 11, 2016 — Scott Johnson
After two days of voir dire involving a panel of 100 prospective jurors, we have a jury in the case of the three Somali Minnesotans charged with seeking to support ISIS and related offenses. The jury pool for federal court in Minneapolis draws on citizens in the southern part of Minnesota, including the Twin Cities but extending well beyond them to counties outstate. The prospective jurors called for this case
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May 10, 2016 — Scott Johnson
The case against the three “Minnesota men” who have not pleaded guilty to terrorism charges related to efforts to join ISIS proceeded as scheduled yesterday before Judge Michael Davis in federal district court in Minneapolis. A large crowd of Somali supporters of the defendants filled the courtroom The morning was consumed with preliminary motions including one involving the possible withdrawal of attorney Murad Mohammad. Mohammad represents Mohamed Farah. Farah claims
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May 9, 2016 — Scott Johnson
Over the past year the government has charged ten “Minnesota men” (i.e., Somali Minnesotans) with seeking to join ISIS. One of the ten is believed to have made it to Syria and is unavailable for trial. Six of the ten have pleaded guilty. This past October a grand jury added a charge of conspiracy to commit murder overseas to the original charge of lending material support to a foreign terrorist
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April 28, 2016 — Scott Johnson
Ten Somali Minnesotans (a/k/a “Minnesota men,” as they are called in the headlines) were charged with seeking to join ISIS in April 2015. The case is of national interest and obvious importance. In the Weekly Standard articles “The threat from ‘Minnesota men'” and “Judging the ‘Minnesota men'” I tried to persuade readers that attention must be paid. The cases open a window onto the evolving security threat facing the United
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April 22, 2016 — Scott Johnson
The case against four “Minnesota men” who sought to join ISIS is set for trial in Minneapolis before Judge Michael Davis on May 9. Judge Davis still has to decide pending severance motions that may affect the date in some of the cases, but trial approaches. Five of the “Minnesota men” have pleaded guilty. The government has a strong case against the four remaining defendants. The strength of the government’s
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March 14, 2016 — Scott Johnson
The current issue of the Weekly Standard carries my article “Judging the ‘Minnesota men.'” It’s a companion to my earlier article “The threat from ‘Minnesota men.'” In the new article, I take a close look at the case of Abdirizak Mohamed Warsame, who pleaded guilty to one charge of supporting ISIS in federal court in Minneapolis last month. Judge Michael Davis has now created an experimental “de-radicalization” program under which
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December 30, 2015 — Scott Johnson
A reader writes to comment on my pieces here and elsewhere regarding the threat from “Minnesota men.” Citing this Daily Mail article dating from September 2014, he writes: Thank you for your reporting on the security issues at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) and how that relates to Islamic terror. You might recall this is not the first time MSP and Islamic terror have intersected. In 2014 it was reported
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December 27, 2015 — Scott Johnson
This past April six “Minnesota men” were charged with seeking to support ISIS by joining up with the group in Syria. The charges represented the culmination of a 10-month FBI investigation conducted out of the FBI’s Minneapolis office. The office of the United States Attorney for Minnesota initiated the case by the filing of a criminal complaint and supporting FBI affidavit that are available online here. The Department of Justice
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December 16, 2015 — Scott Johnson
Hillary Clinton came to the campus of the University of Minnesota to give “what was billed as a major address on counterterrorism and preventing the radicalization of U.S. citizens into global jihad,” according to Patrick Condon’s enthusiastic Star Tribune article (speech summary here, text here, 45-minute video below). Clinton’s big plan as presented in her address yesterday includes the gun control catechism popularized by President Obama plus golden oldies dating
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