A Minnesota man was charged Friday with providing and conspiring to provide support to ISIS and threatening to attack New York City, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced .
Harafa Hussein Abdi, 41, a U.S. citizen who resides in Minneapolis, was recently taken into custody overseas and was transported back to the United States, the DOJ said. He is facing up to 20 years in prison.
Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen said in a statement that Abdi left the U.S. to join ISIS, a designated foreign terrorist organization, as a fighter and to actively aid the group’s “propaganda efforts to spread its vile ideology.”
“There is no higher priority for the National Security Division than to protect Americans from terrorist organizations and we will work tirelessly to find and hold accountable those who would join these groups to do our people harm wherever they may be,” Olsen’s statement said.
Abdi moved from Minneapolis to Somalia in 2015. He joined ISIS’s media team to film footage for distribution by a “pro-ISIS media outlet” and became trained in using an AK-47.