Terror suspect, 18, released to parents' custody

Friday, November 28, 2014

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An 18-year-old Minnesota man accused of trying to travel to Syria to join fighters with the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) was released into the custody of his parents after a hearing Wednesday.

Abdullahi Yusuf was released from federal custody after his attorney noted he’d known for six months he was being investigated but never fled. Yusuf had been stopped by FBI agents at the Minneapolis airport in May while trying to leave the United States, but wasn’t arrested until Tuesday.

Yusuf, who lives with his parents in Inver Grove Heights, is charged with one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. Another man, Abdi Nur, 20, of Minneapolis, is also charged but believed to be outside the United States.

A federal grand jury that convened last spring is investigating the ISIL recruitment pipeline. Federal authorities believe about a dozen Somali-Americans from the Twin Cities, including two women, have managed to fly to the Middle East after being provided assurances of safe passage by ISIL contacts.

Yusuf, who works part time at Best Buy and attends Inver Hills Community College, appeared earlier before the grand jury but declined to testify, according to Peter Erlinder, an attorney who represented him during those proceedings.

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