Cheers to Sen. Al Franken for being proactive on the issue of Minnesotans going overseas to fight for Islamic State, a terrorist group known for its brutality towards non-Sunni Muslims, prisoners and hostages.
Recently, federal authorities confirmed that Douglas McAuthur McCain, 33, who grew up in the Twin Cities, died in Syria.
There are reports that a second Minnesotan, Abdirahmaan Muhumed, also may have died fighting alongside the militants, according to Minnesota Public Radio News.
In fact, as many as 12 Minnesotans may have left the country to join fighters for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, Franken said recently, citing preliminary information from the FBI.
Many are from the large Somali-American population in Minnesota, but not all: McCain is not of Somali heritage.
Franken called on the Department of Justice to focus on recruitment efforts in Minnesota, where terrorism recruitment efforts may be happening at a higher rate, and the threat from Americans who may seek to reenter the country after fighting alongside Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.
Franken also expressed concern that President Obama has not yet developed a comprehensive strategy to address the growing threat of Islamic State in Syria.
“In my experience, no one is more upset about young members of their communities going to fight alongside our enemies than are those communities themselves,” wrote Sen. Franken in his letter to Attorney General Eric Holder. “Minnesotans of all backgrounds and faiths are committed to seeing this evil eradicated and justice being done.”
Franken told MPR that U.S. officials need to closely track Minnesotans with ties to ISIS and arrest them if they are suspected of supporting terrorism.
“When these people come back, if they do, these Minnesotans, we need to be monitoring them very closely,” he said. “If they come in (and) there’s evidence they’ve given material support for terrorism, we should arrest them and definitely track these people - or not let them into the country.”
Heading to Syria to fight is a relatively new thing for young Minnesotans of Somali descent, but they have been leaving to fight overseas for several years now.
Since 2007, at least 23 young Twin Cities men have left for the Horn of Africa, allegedly to take up arms in Somalia’s civil war, according to MPR News.
Authorities believe the men joined al-Shabab, a ruthless and radical Islamic militia group vying to topple Somalia’s weak transitional government.
The FBI has confirmed that two of the recruits became suicide bombers, and seven others are believed to have been killed in the fighting.
The men range from one voted “most friendly” by graduating seniors at Roosevelt High School in 2006 to a former member of the Somali-American gang the Hot Boyz, who left the gang after he became religious.
A mix of nationalism and religious extremism is motivating the men to join the fighting in the Middle East and Africa.
