There are many, many others like Adnan Abdihamid Farah. Our government’s response? Youth basketball and job training programs for Somali Muslims in Minneapolis. This stupidity is going to get people killed.
“Minnesota man changes plea to guilty in Islamic State case,” by Steve Karnowski, Associated Press, April 14, 2016:
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — One of five Minnesota men due to go on trial next month for conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State group changed his plea Thursday to guilty, saying he succumbed to propaganda videos that preached jihad.
Adnan Abdihamid Farah, 20, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. Three other counts were dropped, including conspiracy to commit murder outside the United States. Farah faces a maximum of 15 years in prison but avoided a possible life sentence by taking the plea deal.
“I take responsibility for myself and actions I committed,” Farah told U.S. District Judge Michael Davis, who didn’t set a sentencing date.
The hearing was interrupted for about 45 minutes after Farah’s mother, Ayan Farah, 39, collapsed with chest pain as proceedings got underway. Security personnel hustled her son out of the courtroom, and medics took her to a hospital for treatment. There was no immediate word on her condition.
Adnan Farah’s brother, Mohamed Abdihamid Farah, 22, is among the other four defendants who are scheduled to go on trial May 9. Adnan Farah’s attorney, Kenneth Udoibok, said the stress of the case has been weighing heavily on their mother.
Altogether, 10 Minnesota men have been charged with conspiracy to provide material support to the Islamic State group as part of the investigation. Five have now pleaded guilty, one remains at large. About a dozen Minnesota residents have traveled to Syria to join militant groups there in recent years.
Unlike the other defendants, Adnan Farah wasn’t accused of trying to travel to Syria to fight for the Islamic State. But he told Davis that he applied for an expedited U.S. passport with the intention of doing so. He said his parents confiscated the passport when it came in the mail early. He then put a $100 down payment on a fake passport and also tried to help a co-defendant get one.
“I’m more than sorry for the pain I caused my parents,” Farah said, his voice choked with emotion. “If I had listened to them I wouldn’t be here today.”…
