Another Minnesota man is accused of conspiring to help the Islamic State.
Abdirizak Mohamed Warsame, 20, of Eagan was charged Wednesday by criminal complaint with conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.
Court documents allege Warsame tried to help other young men from Minnesota’s Somali community travel to Syria to fight for the Islamic State. The men have been described as friends in Minnesota’s Somali community who recruited and inspired each other to join the Islamic State. Some of them communicated with Islamic State members overseas, some took steps to get fake passports, and some played paintball to prepare for combat, prosecutors say. Nine others in that group have already been charged, authorities say.
The documents allege Warsame and others settled on a plan of going to Syria by way of Mexico.
According to an FBI special agent’s affidavit, one man who was planning to leave for Syria appointed Warsame to replace him as “emir,” or leader, of the group.
One man made reservations for a May 2014 flight from Minneapolis to Istanbul, Turkey, with the intention of going on to Syria the document said. The day before the man was to leave, Warsame accompanied the man and two others to a public library where the man printed out his itinerary. The four men then went to a mall and shopped for items needed for travel, according to the affidavit. The man who planned to fly to Turkey was stopped at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport by FBI agents, who prevented him from boarding his flight.
FBI spokesman Kyle Loven said Warsame was arrested Wednesday night and is in custody. He’s expected to make an initial appearance Thursday in U.S. District Court.
Five Minnesota men are scheduled to stand trial in May on charges including conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and conspiracy to commit murder outside the United States, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Source: Fox News
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