Minnesota man gets 4 years' probation in Islamic State case

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

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A Minnesota man who admitted sending an angry tweet threatening U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch was sentenced Monday to four years of probation with a long list of conditions meant to keep him out of trouble.

Mahamed Abukar Said, 20, was charged in April with two felonies after posting a message on Twitter saying "ima whack that us attorney general." He has said he was angry because prosecutors had just charged six of his friends with conspiring to join the Islamic State group.

Said also admitted being high on marijuana and Xanax when he sent the tweet. He pleaded guilty last month to a misdemeanor count of impeding a law enforcement officer.

"It was the dumbest thing. I apologize for it," Said told U.S. District Judge Lawrence Piersol on Monday.

Piersol and prosecutors said they gave Said a break in hopes that he straightens out his life and finds better friends. But the judge expressed reservations, noting that Said has violated some rules at the halfway house where he's been staying.

"Everything I have been told is that he is a young man of some intelligence. Intelligence and judgment don't always go hand in hand," Piersol said.

Piersol set several conditions on Said's probation, including that he get drug treatment and mental health counseling, live at the halfway house for a year, and that he not possess material reflecting terrorist or extremist views. The judge said he was waiving fees for some the services that Said is required to get, in hopes of helping him get on his feet financially.

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