Their radical mosque is directing them to CAIR - gee, what a surprise that is.
From KARE11. (tip of the turban to FReeper ButThreeLeftsDo)
Federal authorities won't confirm the grand jury investigation but the subpoenas -- as well as questions by FBI agents and customs officials -- have unnerved some in the community. Local Somalis have felt vulnerable since officials began looking into why these young men left, and why one carried out a suicide bombing in Somalia last fall.
Omar Hurre, director of Abubakar As-Saddique Islamic Center, the largest mosque in Minnesota, said about 20 young Somalis have come to him in the last few months, asking for advice about grand jury subpoenas.
"Most of them just come to me and say, 'Hey, I got this. What should I do?"' he said. "Some of them are even crying when they come to me and confused and scared because they think when they get a visit from any law enforcement agency ... that maybe they did something wrong."
Nah. They couldn't have done anything wrong, could they??? Keep reading, pilgrims.
The 23 members of a grand jury determine whether there is probable cause to charge someone with a federal felony offense. In most cases, prosecutors have a suspect in mind, and they present evidence to get that person indicted so they can go to trial.
An investigation can take months, and the proceedings are secret.
Ted Sampsell-Jones, a professor at William Mitchell College of Law, said it is mostly a "rubber stamping process." However, since the grand jury has subpoena power and can compel testimony, it can be used as part of an investigation.
"The prosecutor ... can walk into the grand jury and say, 'We have a general sense that something is going on here, we don't have a specific suspect yet,"' he said.
David Anderson, spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office, said he could neither confirm nor deny an investigation. Katherian Roe, federal public defender, said her office has helped "a number of folks" of Somali descent who have received subpoenas. She could not elaborate.
Several local Somalis say they've been questioned by the FBI, customs officials, or subpoenaed since a handful of young men left for Somalia on Nov. 4, possibly to fight for terror groups. Others left before that: Authorities say one Minneapolis man, Shirwa Ahmed, carried out a suicide bombing Oct. 29 as part of a series of coordinated attacks that targeted a U.N. compound, the Ethiopian consulate and the presidential palace in Hargeisa, capital of the Somaliland region.
FBI Director Robert Mueller said in February that the bomber had probably been "radicalized" in the Twin Cities. And U.S. counterterrorism officials have raised concerns that an extremist group called al-Shabab is recruiting young men in Minnesota and elsewhere.
Some Somalis are nervous. In Somalia, a visit from a government agent means someone was in "real trouble," Hurre said. Somalia has not had an effective government since 1991, when warlords overthrew a socialist dictator then turned on each other, causing chaos in the African nation of 7 million. A new government took over in January and is trying to restore order.
E.K. Wilson, a spokesman with the FBI in Minneapolis, said agents have reached out to the community. Among other things, Special Agent in Charge Ralph Boelter has appeared on local Somali television.
The mosque has directed local Somalis seeking advice to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which refers them to an attorney to be advised of their rights.
"I would rather people be subpoenaed, and everything be on the record," than have questionable interrogations take place, said Taneeza Islam, civil rights director for CAIR-MN. "If there is a federal investigation going on, we believe in the system and we believe that justice will be served."
The Somali Justice Advocacy Center is working on setting up a toll-free line for Somalis who have been questioned or subpoenaed, said executive director Omar Jamal.
Normandale Community College student Samiya Ahmed, 22, received a subpoena and knew of six others as well. She was also questioned twice by the FBI, the first time at her house in November, she said.
"I was (nervous) but they basically just told me they were just trying to help these guys come back. Come home to their parents," she said. "I want my friends back here too, you know. Safe and sound. But right now, it's a terror investigation. Everyone's kind of freaked out."
The second time was the night before Inauguration Day. By phone, agents asked if she had been contacted by any men who left. Ahmed told The Associated Press she knows some of the young men, and while they haven't called her directly, she has spoken to a couple of them about a year ago when her friends have been contacted.
Agents asked her if she knew anyone who planned to bomb President Barack Obama's inauguration.
"I said, 'I don't know and that is a very odd question,"' Ahmed recalled. "I am an American citizen ... this is my president ... and I don't see why they would come to me, a simple girl just in college, trying to live my life.
"I kind of felt like an outsider at that moment," she said.
Many Somalis hope the grand jury takes action soon so they can put this issue behind them.
Hurre, from the mosque, said he has been telling community members the investigation is normal, and there is no need for fear.
"We really hope that if there is some criminal elements amongst us that they will be brought out, and that they will be brought to justice," he said.
Comments