Feb. 16 (UPI) — A Minnesota man has been charged with providing and conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, according to documents unsealed Friday.
The Justice Department alleges that Harafa Hussein Abdi, 41, joined and trained with ISIS in Somalia and that he encouraged others to join.
“As alleged in the complaint, Abdi, moved from Minnesota to Somalia in 2015,” the Justice Department said in a press release Friday. “Once there, he joined a group of ISIS fighters at an ISIS training camp in the Puntland region of Somalia.”
Southern District of New York U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said Abdi carried weapons and encouraged others to attack the United States while he was training with ISIS fighters.
“Abdi allegedly carried an AK-47, threatened to attack civilians in New York City, and encouraged others to carry out such attacks,” Williams said.
The Justice Department says that, during his time with the militants, Abdi uploaded pro-ISIS rap music with lyrics threatening to attack the United States.
One of Abdi’s uploads contained the lyrics, “Fly through America on our way to shoot New York up. They trying to shut this thing. We ain’t going. We going to come blow New York up,” according to the Justice Department.
