A Minneapolis man was charged Friday with attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State terrorist group in Somalia.
It is the second time this week that President Donald Trump's Department of Justice has arrested and charged someone related to providing support for ISIS. A Tajikistan national in the U.S. illegally, Mansuri Manuchekhri, 33, was arrested Wednesday on charges he conspired to support ISIS and its central Asia affiliate, known as ISIS-K, by providing tens of thousands of dollars to the terrorist organization's followers in Turkey and Syria.
According to the latest criminal complaint, Abdisatar Ahmed Hassan, 22, attempted to travel from Minnesota to Somalia in December to join ISIS on two occasions, neither of which were successful.
Hassan allegedly attempted to disguise the purpose of his travel as visiting family despite having none in Somalia and was traveling with his birth certificate, naturalization certificate, and high school diploma.
The DOJ said the FBI's investigation established that Hassan publicly supported ISIS on social media through multiple posts and communicated with a Facebook account for the Manjaniq Media Center, which encouraged individuals to travel to join ISIS and touted itself as a media organization of the "Islamic Caliphate."
The investigation further revealed, according to the criminal complaint, that Hassan praised Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the perpetrator of the ISIS-inspired terrorist attack on New Year's Day in New Orleans that killed 14 and injured dozens of others.
Hassan also allegedly posted a video of himself driving while holding a small ISIS flag inside the vehicle, as well as another video of himself driving with an open knife on his lap. On Wednesday, the FBI observed Hassan driving while again holding an ISIS flag.
Hassan was charged with one count of attempting to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization. He was arrested Thursday and made his initial appearance at U.S. District Court for in the District of Minnesota in St. Paul on Friday and was ordered to remain in custody pending a formal detention hearing on March 5 in front of Magistrate Judge Douglas Micko, according to a news release.
"As we have all seen in recent months, ISIS and its supporters pose the gravest of dangers to our communities," Lisa Kirpatrick, the acting U.S. attorney for a district in Minnesota, said in the news release. "Those who support foreign terrorist organizations in our homeland — like Hassan — are a clear and present threat to our national security. They will be held to account."
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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