10th Minn. Man Charged With Helping Others Join ISIS Due In Court
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A tenth Minnesota man charged with providing material to support terrorists in Syria and Iraq is set to appear in court Thursday morning.
Abdirizak Mohamed Warsame, 20, a Somali American from Eagan was arrested around 7 p.m. Thursday.
Court documents said he was helping nine previously charged men leave the country to join ISIS.
Prosecutors said those nine tried to leave repeatedly to join ISIS. Federal agents stopped them from leaving in April.
According to the criminal complaint, Warsame and the other men began meeting in the spring of 2014 to discuss traveling to Syria and watch "glorified religious videos."
During one of the meetings, a man named Guled Omar was elected the leader of the group. He left the country later in 2014 and elected Warsame to replace him as the head of the group.
The criminal complaint states that in April 2014 Warsame applied for an expedited passport but was denied. He later obtained one in August 2014.
Court documents also detail Warsame repeatedly tried to find contact information for ISIS members.
In April 2015, Warsame had actively encouraged Omar and the other eight men to travel to Syria through Mexico. Warsame did not plan to go through Mexica, as his family was planning a trip to east Africa where he planned to break away from them.
Federal agents also recorded phone conversations in April 2015 involving Warsame where he talked about wanting to join ISIS.
In another phone conversation, Warsame discussed plans to travel to Syria from Somalia.
Five men are scheduled to stand trial in May. Three others have already pleaded guilty.
Authorities said a ninth is in Syria.
It's believed about a dozen Minnesota residents have traveled to Syria to join terror groups since late 2013.