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Affidavit: US teen left clues about Syria plan
An 18-year-old Minnesota man accused of trying to travel to Syria to join fighters with the Islamic State group left a few inadvertent clues on Facebook, but was able to hide months of planning from his parents, according to court documents unsealed this week
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n 18-year-old Minnesota man accused of trying to travel to Syria to join fighters with the Islamic State group left a few inadvertent clues on Facebook, but was able to hide months of planning from his parents, according to court documents unsealed this week.
Abdullahi Yusuf was released into the custody of his parents Wednesday 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 U.S., but wasn't arrested until Tuesday.
Yusuf had no income when he obtained a passport, opened a checking account, and paid for an airline ticket to Istanbul, Turkey, according to court documents released after his arrest. On at least two occasions, federal agents watched as he left his high school after his father had dropped him off.
Yusuf, who lives with his parents in a St. Paul suburb, 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 U.S.
Shortly after turning 18, Yusuf applied for an expedited passport in April without his parents' knowledge. He told a passport official at he was traveling to Istanbul for vacation and provided school identification cards and a citizenship certificate. But when he became visibly nervous and couldn't provide details on his travel, the official alerted the FBI, which put Yusuf under surveillance and eventually stopped him at the airport.
FBI Special Agent John Thomas wrote in an affidavit that when Yusuf was told agents thought he was planning to go to Syria to join a terrorist group, he said: "I've never committed a crime. I never committed no terrorist crimes that you're accusing me of."
The FBI also said Yusuf had associated with a former Minnesota resident now believed to be fighting in Syria, identified in court documents as H.M.
Yusuf was Facebook friends with H.M., and phone records show Yusuf and H.M. exchanged several phone calls and text messages, including a two-minute call two days before H.M.'s departure. One week after H.M. left, Yusuf searched for him on Facebook, according to the affidavit.
Yusuf's own Facebook account shows his profile picture is that of a man with the head of a lion. The affidavit says Islamic extremists refer to themselves as lions ' a reference to being a strong warrior for jihad.
A major goal of many groups fighting in Syria is to overthrow President Bashar Assad. In February, Yusuf posted on his Facebook account: "Bashaar asad don't deserve to live," the affidavit said. (***)
