10th ISIS terror suspect a surprise to Twin Cities Somali community

[Duchess]

EAGAN, Minn. (KMSP) - To prosecutors, Abdirizak Warsame is the 10th Minnesota man to face terror charges for conspiring to join ISIS, but to people in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood of Minneapolis, he is the last person they expected to get into trouble.

Those that knew him say he spoke out against gang violence and was involved in many of the kind of social programs that are being proposed to counter violent extremism.
Community leader Mohamud Nnoor knew Warsame when he was just a young teenager, doing spoken word in the neighborhood and playing basketball at the local community center.

“[He was] a good kid who was looking forward to a better future. [He] was trying to fit into the society in his place,” Noor said.

Most recently, Warsame was going to Normandale Community College and was working long hours as a security guard. He was living in Eagan with his mother, who had very publicly encouraged parents in the community to cooperate with the FBI.

On social media, he could write in poetic terms, like "a man driven by anger will always have regrets, and a man driven by ignorance can never be in check."

However, there are also signs that something may have changed for Warsame. His last, cryptic tweet came just a day before he was arrested. It read, "It's crazy how they love you after your struggle, but not when you was going thru it."

http://www.fox9.com/news/57059707-story

@Idol @Ruqiya @bandit What do you guys know about this case?

 

[Duchess]

Warsame has known for some time that federal authorities were interested in him. MPR News has learned that both Warsame and a younger brother were questioned by the FBI in recent years.

Here are the basics:

What do we know about Warsame?

Warsame is friends with the men who have already been charged with trying to join ISIS. He went to school with many of them at Heritage Academy in Minneapolis. His family says he was going to Normandale Community College. In court Thursday, he said he works as a $13 an hour security guard.

Warsame is active on social media with many photos and videos of himself reciting poems. That includes a Facebook post in March where he told viewers: "I woke up one day thinking I could change the world / but I couldn't even change my ways. It's sad to say...because I was trying to build from the top. An evil man came and told me to stop."

It's not clear what inspired the poem.

What are prosecutors saying about his involvement in this case?

Prosecutors say Warsame encouraged his friends to leave for Syria and at one point became their leader. They say he gave one friend money to pay for his passport application and tried to put one of them men in touch with contacts with ISIS. The FBI thinks he would have traveled to Syria himself in last year, but his application for passport was denied.

What do we know about his family?

This is where his case gets interesting. His mother tried to protect her kids from being recruited by ISIS because she knew her sons were under scrutiny from the FBI. We've learned that the FBI questioned Warsame and his younger brother multiple times over the past few years. The family didn't feel the two boys were safe here, so they sent them to Chicago for a time to live with their father.

And his mother urged other Somali parents in Minnesota to work with federal authorities. Just two months ago, she spoke at a town hall meeting with U.S. Attorney Andy Luger and the head of the Minneapolis FBI. Deqa Hussen told community members to stop living in denial.

"I need you guys to wake up and to tell your child, 'Who's recruiting you?'" she said. "We have to stop the denial thing that we have, and we have talk to our kids and work with the FBI."

It's pretty uncommon to hear that. And it's even more intriguing now that her own son is arrested by the FBI. Here was a mother who was publicly calling for more cooperation with the FBI and trying to prevent her own kids from being recruited. And the question is, how could this happen to someone who seemed so on top of her game? And how can the community prevent more young people from falling into this trap? She used to come to these court hearings for the other ISIS defendants to show support. On Thursday, she came to see her own son who's now in federal custody.

Why was Warsame charged now, even though authorities say he began conspiring with the group since early 2014?

That's a question on the minds of many Somali community members. Some wonder if recent terror attack in San Benardino, Calif., might be prompting federal authorities to act more aggressively to stamp out extremist activity.

Andy Luger, the United States Attorney for Minnesota, said Thursday he will work hard to keep Minnesotans safe and bring the ISIS defendants to justice. But a spokesman for Luger said the timing of the arrests has nothing to do with acts of terrorism around the country and noted that the arrests of 10 men in this case have been staggered over a year.

http://www.mprnews.org/story/2015/12/10/what-we-know-abdirizak-warsame?WT.mc_id=_WT_AUTOGEN_VALUE_

 

[Ruqiya]

Abaayo I have seen this in the news but somalis will always hide the truth. Ayagoo arka inuu qofku qalad galay bay dhahayaan maya gaalada baa been ka sheegtay. I remember when the 7 men from Mpls got arrested last April some people were saying they got framed blah blah. Even though, there was hard evidence which proved they attempted to join isis they still said oh the FIB framed the boys. Another thing I noticed is some parents are lying to kids about the reason why boys (7 from april) got arrested. For example those kids who were friends with ones that got arrested don't know the truth because their parents are telling them different story like "gaaloos hate us" and thats why the boys got arrested.

 

[Duchess]

The 10 Somali ISIS terror suspects

An excerpt from Abdirizak Warsame's indictment:

He was caught discussing why Mujahid Miski hasn't given bayah yet lol

 

[Queen Carawelo]

http://www.fox9.com/news/57059707-story

@Idol @Ruqiya @bandit What do you guys know about this case?

Wow just wow.

I don't know him, but this is crazy. Why would he throw away his future to join extremist terrorists?

 

[Duchess]

Wow just wow.

I don't know him, but this is crazy. Why would he throw away his future to join extremist terrorists?

He was a poet and was involved with Poet Nation. After Fox 9 got a hold of his video, Poet Nation took it down. lol Somalis in MN are saying this guys arrest is a 'game changer' and how he's being framed, but it seems the FBI has solid evidence including audio recordings to prove that Warsame was involved in ISIS recruitment.

 

[Queen Carawelo]

Abaayo I have seen this in the news but somalis will always hide the truth. Ayagoo arka inuu qofku qalad galay bay dhahayaan maya gaalada baa been ka sheegtay. I remember when the 7 men from Mpls got arrested last April some people were saying they got framed blah blah. Even though, there was hard evidence which proved they attempted to join isis they still said oh the FIB framed the boys. Another thing I noticed is some parents are lying to kids about the reason why boys (7 from april) got arrested. For example those kids who were friends with ones that got arrested don't know the truth because their parents are telling them different story like "gaaloos hate us" and thats why the boys got arrested.

I blame the parents. How do you expect the kids will turn out when every minute the parents are accusing and cursing the "gaalos". These kids will think it's okay to kill innocent people because their parents hated gaalos. Allah swt created the gaalos, they're the ones helping you while your own people chased you away, when you're so called brothers in Islam deported you (Saudi Arabia). Umadaa illahay hala iska dhaafo, I blame these ignorant parents. The beautiful holy Quran teaches us to leave Allah's creatures alone, don't bad mouth them, don't lie about them. Live and let live.

 

[Ruqiya]

Wow just wow.

I don't know him, but this is crazy. Why would he throw away his future to join extremist terrorists?

I am glad we don't know these extremist. Ilahow hana barin inkaar bay qabaan.

 

[Queen Carawelo]

He was a poet and was involved with Poet Nation. After Fox 9 got a hold of his video, Poet Nation took it down. lol Somalis in MN are saying this guys arrest is a 'game changer' and how he's being framed, but it seems the FBI has solid evidence including audio recordings to prove that Warsame was involved in ISIS recruitment.

How is he being framed? What's so special about him? Somalis need to stop lying. The FBI won't come after you without any evidence. Framed kulaha.lol

 

[Queen Carawelo]

I am glad we don't know these extremist. Ilahow hana barin inkaar bay qabaan.

Alxamdullillah. Ruqiya sis, we should be wary to who we open up to and befriend. I am not going to trust no Somalis from MN. I will always keep my guard up, I'm also advising you the same sis. Be very cautious.

 

[Ruqiya]

Framed bay ku waasheen! Its embarrasing to see somali hooyos crying in the local news saying, free our boys.

 

[Ruqiya]

Alxamdullillah. Ruqiya sis, we should be wary to who we open up to and befriend. I am not going to trust no Somalis from MN. I will always keep my guard up, I'm also advising you the same sis. Be very cautious.

I will thanks sis. I am very cautious person. May Allah keep us away from all crazy people.

 

[Freebandz]

you know the picture of the 6 guys looked familier then i remembered they went to the same high school