Free Republic

My hometown of Minneapolis has been totally transformed by the arrival of tens of thousands of refugees from Somalis, one of whom now represents the city and a few suburbs in Congress. Nobody there was asked if such a makeover was desired by the residents; State Department officials decided that the generous welfare benefits available in Minnesota were reason enough to send people whose native land was tropical to the coldest major city in the United States. But now that the old 97%+ Caucasian city has been made into a multicultural exemplar, the local establishment, including the newspapers and broadcasters,...

The threat of foreign fighter recruitment is greater today than it has ever been. The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) is proving lethally effective in drawing extremists from around the world to their ranks, and in the United States, ISIL is targeting the Somali-American community in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota. There are more than 40,000 Somali-Americans and immigrants in Minnesota. This growing immigrant community is facing substantial challenges, including weak family structures, lack of education, racism and violent crime. In this mix of chronic community challenges, young people can be unsure of their personal identity, leaving them vulnerable...

An Islamist radical recruited to Somalia from Minneapolis inspired the would-be “Texas Terror” killers, who were gunned down in Garland, Texas Sunday night by a sharp-shooting law enforcement officer before they could carry out their mass-murder plot at an art exhibit sponsored by First Amendment heroine Pamela Geller. It’s just the latest example of how and why Minneapolis—and specifically the congressional district of Muslim Democrat Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) —has become ground zero for the threat to the United States from Islamist terror groups such as ISIS and Al-Shabaab. ... The terrorist threat emanates from the Minneapolis neighborhood known as...

Six Minnesota appeared in federal court Monday are charged with providing support to a terrorism organization, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. The men were arrested in Minnesota and California on Sunday. Nineteen-year-old Zacharia Yusuf Abdurahman, 19-year-old Adnan Farah, 19-year-old Hanad Mustafe Musse and 20-year-old Guled Ali Omar were arrested in Minneapolis. Twenty-one-year-old Adirahman Yasin Daud and 21-year-old Mohamed Abdihamid Farah were arrested in San Diego. All six are Somali-American, the FBI said. The charges and arrests are tied to the efforts of the six men to try to get to Syria to join the terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq...

A source tells WCCO that FBI agents arrested at least six people in Minneapolis and San Diego for suspicion of trying to join ISIS. Authorities say efforts of a joint terrorism task force led to the arrests. The six people taken into custody may be connected to the on-going investigation of Twin Cities residents traveling to Syria to support ISIS over the last year, according to the source. U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota and the FBI are holding a news conference Monday morning to provide more details.

The FBI made six arrests in Minneapolis and in San Diego Sunday as part of a Joint Terrorism Task Force operation, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Minnesota office. “There is no threat to public safety,” .. More information will be released Monday morning, .. Omar Jamal, a Somali activist in Minneapolis, said the community has been abuzz about arrests Sunday of several Somali young men both in Minneapolis and California that appear to be linked to the ongoing investigation related to ISIS and Al-Shabab. He said he’s heard the number of arrested could be between three and six people.

WASHINGTON — Six young Somali-American men were arrested on Sunday in what may be the largest case to date involving recruiting in the United States for the Islamic State, law enforcement officials said on Monday. All six are Somali-Americans ages 19 to 21, the officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity before a news conference planned in Minneapolis on Monday morning to announce the charges. Four men were arrested in Minneapolis and two in San Diego, they said. A few dozen Americans have traveled or tried to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State, also known as ISIL...

With the horrendous terrorist attack at the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Somali al Qaeda affiliate al Shabab is back in the news. We still don’t know the identity of the perpetrators, or whether any of them had made their way to al Shabab from Minnesota or points elsewhere in the United States. I trust that time will. For now we have the New York Times visit to Minneapolis to pass on the fears of Somali residents that they will be stigmatized and (good grief!) and scrutinized. And the Star Tribune is on the case to transmit the avowals of local...