Vol. 74/No. 32      August 23, 2010

Twelve of those indicted are from Minnesota—which has about 50,000 Somalis, the largest concentration of Somalis in the United States. The other two are from Alabama and California.

“These arrests and charges should serve as an unmistakable warning to others considering joining terrorist groups like al-Shabab,” U.S. attorney general Eric Holder said at a August 5 press conference in Washington. “If you choose this route, you can expect to find yourself in a U.S. jail cell or a casualty on the battlefield in Somalia.”

Indictments against two of the accused—Amina Farah Ali, 33, and Hawo Mohamed Hassan, 63, both U.S. citizens from Rochester, Minnesota—have received front-page news treatment here. They are the only defendants currently in the country.

Ali and Hassan are also the first women charged in what the Minneapolis Star-Tribune called “one of the most sweeping counterterrorism investigations since the attacks of 9/11.” Both women have been charged with fundraising for al-Shabab. Both women have pleaded not guilty.

At the arraignment in St. Paul August 9, some 30 Somali women packed the courtroom in a show of support for the two women. Before the hearing at the federal courthouse, about a dozen protested outside.

Farhiyo Mohamed, Hassan’s niece, disputed the charges in an article in the Star-Tribune. She reported that money raised by the two went to a shelter for elderly people in Somalia to buy food and medicine, not to al-Shabab. Mohamed said her aunt “hates al-Shabab because what they do is not right. She would never help out people like that.”

According to the Star-Tribune, the FBI claims the women sometimes made “open appeals for support of violent jihad.” If convicted, the two women face up to 15 years in prison.

Hassan told Minnesota Public Radio that the FBI raided her apartment last summer. For the past two years, the cop agency has been active in gathering information and intimidating many in the Somali community, approaching Somalis in their homes, on campuses, at airports, and in the streets.

Mohamed told the Star-Tribune the FBI got people to make false statements. “I heard some ladies snitched. They made up some stories… . Sometimes they just make up this stuff to get money,” she said.

Some local Somali leaders have urged cooperation with the FBI. According to USA Today, Abdirizak Bihi, whose nephew left the United States in 2008 and was killed in Somalia, has “persuaded 20 families to talk to the FBI.” Many in Somali neighborhoods, however, continue to be leery about contact with government agents.
 
 
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