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Minnesota: Judge won’t drop charges against Muslims accused of trying to join ISIS

Sep 2, 2015 3:51 pm By Robert Spencer

“Defense attorneys sought to dismiss several counts, arguing that membership or independent advocacy for a terrorist organization is protected under the First Amendment, and that the Islamic State is more like a nation than a terror group because it proclaims itself sovereign, controls territory and has an army….Davis also disagreed with a defense argument that the men’s rights to freely exercise their religion are being violated.”

Their rights to freely exercise their religion? But…but…the Islamic State has nothing to do with Islam! Obama assured us!

Terror Trials Judge

“7 Accused of Planning to Join Islamic State Still Charged,” by Amy Forliti, Associated Press, September 1, 2015:

A federal judge said Tuesday that he won’t dismiss charges against seven Minnesota men accused of conspiring to travel to Syria to fight with the Islamic State group, saying the defense arguments have no merit.

U.S. District Judge Michael Davis’ order comes a day before a hearing on dozens of motions in the case. Though many requests are standard, documents filed ahead of the hearing provide glimpses into the investigation, and show that the scope of the alleged conspiracy goes beyond the men being prosecuted. Some details:

THE CHARGES

Seven Minnesota men have pleaded not guilty to conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and other counts. Prosecutors allege the men, friends in Minnesota’s Somali community, began meeting in spring 2014 to talk about traveling to Syria to join the Islamic State group.

Defense attorneys sought to dismiss several counts, arguing that membership or independent advocacy for a terrorist organization is protected under the First Amendment, and that the Islamic State is more like a nation than a terror group because it proclaims itself sovereign, controls territory and has an army.

But Davis said independent advocacy or passive membership is different from active conduct. He also said the Islamic State group has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization. Davis also disagreed with a defense argument that the men’s rights to freely exercise their religion are being violated.…

THE PLOT

Prosecutors say several men met multiple times in early 2014 to talk about routes to Syria, costs and potential funding sources. They also watched jihadi propaganda, communicated on messaging apps that couldn’t be traced, played paintball for “training” and looked to the successes and failures of other travelers as they modified plans.

One man, Hanad Mohallim, left the U.S. for Syria in March 2014, prosecutors say. Weeks later Abdullahi Yusuf and Abdi Nur applied for expedited passports. Yusuf was stopped at the airport and has since pleaded guilty to a terror charge, while Nur left the U.S. in May 2014….

THE INFORMANT

The defense is asking that prosecutors be ordered to disclose the identity of an informant, who began cooperating with the FBI this year, so they can interview him. But prosecutors say the informant will be a trial witness so he’ll be subject to cross-examination.

The use of an informant has enraged some in the Somali community, who claim the men were entrapped. Prosecutors say the men came up with plans before the informant began cooperating; defense attorneys say the informant’s credibility and motivations are key to their defense.

TRIAL SECURITY

Defense attorneys also asked that the court limit visible security at trial. Past hearings have included added security, such as bomb-sniffing dogs. Prosecutors argued these measures are appropriate, saying the hearings are packed, some audience members don’t stand when the judge enters and some have exchanged “fist-pumping salutes” with defendants.

Davis denied that request for now, but said the defense could ask again after a trial date is set.

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Filed Under: American jihadis, Islamic State (aka ISIS, ISIL, Daesh) Tagged With: Michael Davis, minnesota


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Comments

  1. jihad3tracker says

    Sep 2, 2015 at 4:25 pm

    What’s the most appropriate cliché ? YOU COULDN’T MAKE THIS STUFF UP !

    • kay says

      Sep 2, 2015 at 5:24 pm

      Re Robert Spencer: “Their rights to freely exercise their religion? But…but…the Islamic State has nothing to do with Islam! Obama assured us!”

      Huge huge propaganda win for Robert Spencer. Massive massive massive propaganda crisis for CAIR, Southern Poverty Law Center, and President Obama. Stupid stupid stupid mistake by the defense team. And thank goodness for that. It’s all on the legal record boys and girls. Oh yeah. Gonna really run with this one.

      And just in time. As Islamic State closes in on Damascus and Robert Spencer’s book on Islamic State comes out. Yep, this is a Seriously Teachable Moment. And also something that should be put on Saturday Night Live as a comedy sketch.

      • Sam says

        Sep 2, 2015 at 8:08 pm

        Sorry, but you have too much confidence in liberal media and liberal populace to seek truth about Islam and Jihadi movement. This info is discussed here and in few other media channels. This will not teach anything to liberal America but increase the whitewashing of Islam. Just watch.

        • kay says

          Sep 3, 2015 at 4:12 pm

          Re: “This info is discussed here and in few other media channels.”

          I have a workaround. It’s called social media. And I connect people up to Jihad Watch and Robert Sepncer ( among others ) that way. If people want the counter-jihad story and resources, it is going out to ( a fair number of ) them. I do serious outreach. Others should do the same.
          Don’t say “sorry” to me. More appropriate is “thank you”. someone has to know how this social media stuff works.

      • Lia Wissing says

        Sep 3, 2015 at 5:04 am

        Congratulations, Judge Davis! And sincere thanks!

  2. Jack Diamond says

    Sep 2, 2015 at 4:48 pm

    defense attorney clowns:

    “It is unlawful for a person in the United States or subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to knowingly provide “material support or resources” to a designated FTO. (The term “material support or resources” is defined in 18 U.S.C. § 2339A(b)(1) as ” any property, tangible or intangible, or service, including currency or monetary instruments or financial securities, financial services, lodging, training, expert advice or assistance, safehouses, false documentation or identification, communications equipment, facilities, weapons, lethal substances, explosives, personnel (1 or more individuals who maybe or include oneself), and transportation, except medicine or religious materials.” 18 U.S.C. §

    Office of the Spokesperson
    Washington, DC
    May 14, 2014
    The Department of State announced the amendment of the designation of al-Qa’ida in Iraq (AQI) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act and as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity under section 1(b) of Executive Order (E.O.) 13224 to add the alias Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) as its primary name and remove all aliases associated with al-Nusrah Front (ANF). Additionally, the Department of State announced the designation of ANF as an FTO under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act and as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity under section 1(b) of E.O. 13224.

    The Department will also add the following aliases to the ISIL listing: the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), ad-Dawla al-Islamiyya fi al-‘Iraq wa-sh-Sham, Daesh, Dawla al Islamiya, and Al-Furqan Establishment for Media Production. Furthermore, under the same authorities, the Department of State designated al-Nusrah Front as a standalone FTO and SDGT.”

    Of course it is practicing their religion to wage Jihad and impose Sharia. We should be making their religion unlawful, this is how you impose “moderate” Islam upon Muslims. And fine, call it a “nation” –then declare war against it (the caliphate) and prosecute such as traitors. “It” is at war with us if no one has noticed.

    Somalis again, great idea importing them…

    • mortimer says

      Sep 2, 2015 at 5:12 pm

      Jack Diamond wrote: “Of course it is practicing their religion to wage Jihad and impose Sharia.”

      That’s the point, Jack! – “men’s rights to freely exercise their religion are being violated”.

      THEY ARE ADMITTING THAT JIHAD IS NORMATIVE ISLAM AND THE ISLAM IS A RELIGION OF WAR…RATHER THAN PEACE.

      • mortimer says

        Sep 2, 2015 at 5:24 pm

        An Aztec could use this argument to demand human sacrifice as part of his religion.

        However, the IMPLICATION here is so revealing! Islam is NOT the religion of peace, but the religion of TERRORISM.

        • Kepha says

          Sep 3, 2015 at 4:56 pm

          Modern worshipers of Ba’al and Ashtoreth already got this right in Roe v. Wade.

      • kay says

        Sep 2, 2015 at 6:44 pm

        Re: Claimed “Exercise of religion.” What these guys want to do. It’s in the brochure.
        This is what the defense team considers reasonable exercise of religion.
        I have posted the following short summary maybe twelve times on social media.
        Works here too. Especially with the Hitler quotes.
        Pretty rad for the defense team. Particularly considering this:
        Virginia Teen Gets 11 Years for Supporting Islamic State
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24IoLfnsVHc

        ————————-

        Syrian civil war | Every week | March 2011 – June 2015
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iqnMcQDRnw

        Syria: Islamic State group destroys Palmyra historic temple of Bel
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkwRbCWv6sM

        “The only religion I respect is Islam. The only prophet I admire is the Prophet Muhammad.”
        — Adolph Hitler, quoted by Ahmed Huber; Kevin Coogan, “The mysterious Achmed Huber: Friend to Hitler”

        ‘It’s been our misfortune to have the wrong religion,” Hitler complained to his pet architect Albert Speer. “Why did it have to be Christianity, with its meekness and flabbiness?” Islam was a Männerreligion—a “religion of men”—and hygienic too.

        ——————————-

        Typical Islamic State actions are what we must criticize and oppose:
        Summary of terrorist attacks – recent Sunni / Salafist / Islamic State actions in Iraq and Syria – late June thru late July 2015.
        Using data from Religion of Peace.
        About one thousand murdered.

        Slaughters of families in their own homes.
        Mothers burned alive with their children.
        Assassinations of Christians, journalists, a doctor and a rival imam.
        Bomb blasts at markets, a power plant and a swimming pool.
        Murders at a school, a restaurant and a bus stop.
        Murder of construction workers by slitting their throats.
        Murder of dissidents.
        Crucifixions for not obeying the Ramadan Islamic daytime fast.
        Islamic State women enforcers beating a woman to death for lifting her veil to read a grocery item label.

    • Asian Crusader says

      Sep 3, 2015 at 12:52 am

      Note that the group’s ACTUAL CURRENT NAME, “Dawla al Islamiya” appears casually three-quarters of the way down the list, without the English equivalent “Islamic State.”

      Meanwhile, Obama and his media minions persist in using the obscurantist version “ISIL,” safe in the knowledge that 98% of the population has no idea where the “Levant” is.

      To support this Obama-specific lie-by-misdirection, media minions on Wikipedia have concocted an entry presenting “Islamic State” as a supposed abstract notion (i.e. AN Islamic State).

      Meanwhile, the actual entry for “ISIS” hurriedly assures readers that Islamic State’s own name is not accepted by other countries (and by implication is apparently not a real name).

  3. Rob says

    Sep 2, 2015 at 5:04 pm

    What if any orientation or briefings or cultural training is given to refugees before they enter the US?
    I’m not a US citizen or resident and am totally gobsmacked at the continual tales of instances like this.
    Worrying.

  4. gravenimage says

    Sep 2, 2015 at 5:20 pm

    Minnesota: Judge won’t drop charges against Muslims accused of trying to join ISIS
    …………………………

    It’s crazy that these days you have to laud a judge for *not dropping charges* against would-be terrorists. But given this mad climate, I say kudos to Judge Michael Davis.

    More:

    “Defense attorneys sought to dismiss several counts, arguing that membership or independent advocacy for a terrorist organization is protected under the First Amendment, and that the Islamic State is more like a nation than a terror group because it proclaims itself sovereign, controls territory and has an army….Davis also disagreed with a defense argument that the men’s rights to freely exercise their religion are being violated.”
    …………………………

    Do these useful idiots realize what they are admitting–that Muslims are not fully able to practice their foul creed unless they can enslave Infidel girls and behead anyone who disagrees with them?

    More:

    Defense attorneys sought to dismiss several counts, arguing that membership or independent advocacy for a terrorist organization is protected under the First Amendment, and that the Islamic State is more like a nation than a terror group because it proclaims itself sovereign, controls territory and has an army.
    …………………………

    Would this argument have stood up for Americans rushing off to join Nazi Germany?

    More:

    Defense attorneys also asked that the court limit visible security at trial. Past hearings have included added security, such as bomb-sniffing dogs. Prosecutors argued these measures are appropriate, saying the hearings are packed, some audience members don’t stand when the judge enters and some have exchanged “fist-pumping salutes” with defendants.
    …………………………

    As for those defendants who won’t stand with the judge enters, this is orthodox Islam–no pious Muslim recognizes the authority of a “filthy Infidel”.

    • Westman says

      Sep 2, 2015 at 6:06 pm

      The non-standing and fist-pumping observers should be ejected for the security of others.

      • gravenimage says

        Sep 3, 2015 at 12:05 am

        Absolutely, Westman.

  5. mortimer says

    Sep 2, 2015 at 5:32 pm

    Is WAGING JIHAD A RELIGIOUS RIGHT?

    • Jay Boo says

      Sep 3, 2015 at 12:19 pm

      Supposedly, according to Muhammad

      yet this satanic verse reciter has been proven a liar more often then all the world’s flies have landed on pig dung.

  6. Angemon says

    Sep 2, 2015 at 5:50 pm

    Good. Hit hard and fast.

  7. David says

    Sep 2, 2015 at 6:04 pm

    Deport them back to Somalia!!!

  8. Infidela says

    Sep 2, 2015 at 7:33 pm

    In America, you vote for your judges don’t you? What will happen when muslims make up a larger percentage of the population than what they do now? What will happen when you get muslims judges who are sympathetic to their cause?

    • gravenimage says

      Sep 3, 2015 at 12:10 am

      Some judges are elected; some are appointed by various bodies–some for a set term, some for life (barring malfeasance). It is fairly complex. The judge above was appointed.

      Right now, Muslims make up less than 1% of the population here–but like everywhere else in the West, it is growing fast–and we are already seeing more Muslim judges. Things are especially bad in Europe.

      Your concern is not misplaced.

  9. abad says

    Sep 2, 2015 at 7:48 pm

    Good news!

    Muslims are NOT entitled to special rights nor special protections.

    And most certainly not after 9-11.

  10. Linde Barrera says

    Sep 3, 2015 at 12:02 am

    US District Judge Michael Davis deserves a special award, like the Medal of Freedom. We need more judges like him.

    • Shmooviyet says

      Sep 3, 2015 at 1:06 pm

      If only. Bravo to Judge Davis.
      It was frankly surprising to hear of this ruling–and this judge– in a city as foully leftist as Minneapolis.
      These attorneys sound stupidly desperate: ‘Oh this lame argument doesn’t pass the judge’s sniff-test? How about this one?”

  11. sidney penny says

    Sep 3, 2015 at 9:01 am

    “Their rights to freely exercise their religion? But…but…the Islamic State has nothing to do with Islam! Obama assured us!”

    Robert, you keep missing the third but

    “Their rights to freely exercise their religion? But…but…but….the Islamic State has nothing to do with Islam! Obama assured us!”

    or

    “Their rights to freely exercise their religion? But…but…but….the Islamic State has nothing to do with Islam! (a religion) Imam Obama assured us!”

  12. BC says

    Sep 3, 2015 at 10:46 am

    “the Islamic State is more like a nation than a terror group because it proclaims itself sovereign, controls territory and has an army.”
    Claiming to be a sovereign nation and being recognised as one are two different things. Does a sovereign nation massacre members of differing faiths including children , sell women as sex slaves, burn people, including captured soldiers, alive? Destroy cultural artifacts for profit, to name but a few of its crimes.
    I know we must have defence lawyers but these would sell their own mothers to win a case. I wonder which law school they graduated from?

  13. GWhizz says

    Sep 3, 2015 at 10:59 am

    Send them to Syria, send their families to Syria, send their Imams to Syria. Take their passports, cancel their US Citizenship. They will love living in the Caliphate. More importantly we will love them living far away from the USA.

  14. Jay Boo says

    Sep 3, 2015 at 11:10 am

    Attorneys worship the dollar bill.

    This is why so few of them believe in God.

  15. Harry_the_Horrible says

    Sep 3, 2015 at 12:08 pm

    He should give them one way tickets to Syria and drop charges in return for them surrendering the passports and renouncing US citizenship at the other end.

    In fact, for these sort of cases, we need a judicial method of stripping the bastards of US citizenship and imposing exile. They should be allowed to return to the US legally, and, if they are found here again it should be “shoot on sight” because, by definition, they are up to no good.

    • Harry_the_Horrible says

      Sep 3, 2015 at 12:09 pm

      NEVER allowed to return here again, I meant.

  16. Shmooviyet says

    Sep 3, 2015 at 1:14 pm

    Thank G-d the rat bastids will remain in jail for now…
    One can only imagine what their even angrier supporters and the ‘fist-pumpers’ do when the ‘packed’ courtroom lets out.

  17. Kepha says

    Sep 3, 2015 at 4:57 pm

    Good for His Honor Michael Davis!

  18. Mike Holt (CEO RestoreAustralia) says

    Sep 3, 2015 at 5:52 pm

    Give Judge Michael Davis a medal!

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