Guled Omar, ISIL Support Conspiracy, Minnesota 2024

Nine Twin Cities men were sentenced this week in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis for conspiring to provide material support to ISIL, a brutal terrorist network responsible for mass executions and global terror. Among them, GULED OMAR, 22, was sentenced to 35 years in federal prison. MOHAMED FARAH received 30 years. ABDIRAHMAN DAUD, 22, was also sentenced to 30 years behind bars. The coordinated plot spanned years and multiple failed attempts to reach Syria and join the jihadist group in combat.

The charges stem from a conspiracy that ran from May 2014 until the arrests on April 19, 2015. As proven at trial, OMAR attempted twice to reach Syria via the U.S.-Mexico border near San Diego. The first attempt in May 2014 was thwarted when family members intervened. The second, on November 6, 2014, saw OMAR attempt to fly from Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport to San Diego, intending to cross the border and make his way to Syria. He was stopped at the airport. He planned to fund the journey using federal financial aid from the U.S. Department of Education meant for college.

MOHAMED FARAH’s path to terror included a November 2014 Greyhound bus ride to New York City with three co-conspirators, where they attempted to board a flight to Europe as a stepping stone to Syria. Federal agents intercepted them before departure. In April 2015, FARAH and ABDIRAHMAN DAUD drove from Minneapolis to San Diego to buy fake passports from what they believed was a black-market dealer. Instead, they obtained documents from a law enforcement officer and were arrested immediately after the transaction.

Eleven Minnesotans have now been charged in connection with the conspiracy. All were associates or close friends, radicalized and determined to fight for ISIL. The nine recently sentenced join a growing list of individuals prosecuted under federal terrorism statutes for attempting to join foreign terror organizations. Their prison terms signal a hard line by federal prosecutors against homegrown extremism.

“ISIL remains one of the most dangerous terror organizations in the world,” said United States Attorney for the District of Minnesota Andrew M. Luger. “Omar, Daud and Farah will spend the next several decades in prison because of their unbreakable desire to kill on behalf of ISIL.” Luger credited the FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) for disrupting the plot and protecting Minnesotans from potential blowback.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard T. Thornton emphasized the gravity of betraying one’s country to join a murderous regime. “The sentences reflect the true gravity of the defendants’ crimes,” Thornton said. Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security Mary B. McCord added that counterterrorism remains the Justice Department’s top priority. “We will continue to stem the flow of foreign fighters and bring justice to those who support designated terrorist organizations,” she said. The case underscores the persistent threat of radicalization—even in America’s heartland.