10th Minnesotan Accused of Supporting ISIL

(CN) - Another Minnesota man was charged with conspiracy to help ISIL, making him the 10th Twin Cities-area resident accused of supporting the U.S.-designated terrorist group.

A 16-page criminal complaint accuses Abdirizak Warsame of planning with others to go to Syria to join the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL. It charges him with conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.

He and co-conspirators allegedly gathered to watch propaganda videos glorifying religious violence.

Warsame, 20, paid $200 to have someone else get him an expedited U.S. passport to travel overseas to join ISIL, the complaint states.

Warsame is also accused of asking for the contact information for a Canadian citizen who traveled to Syria and joined the terrorist group, so he could give the phone number to a co-conspirator who had already traveled to Turkey as part of his plan to join ISIL.

In addition, the Eagan, Minn., resident actively encouraged others to travel to Syria to help the terrorist group.

Nine other men from Minnesota's Somali-American community have been charged with conspiring to help ISIL, according to an affidavit from Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Vadym Vinetsky.

Three of them have pleaded guilty, five are awaiting trial and one is in Syria.

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Email *

Submit