Minnesota to combat terror recruiting with online videos, community involvement

The two top officials in charge of investigating and prosecuting terror recruitment in Minnesota say they want to empower community institutions to prevent violent extremism.

On The Daily Circuit Tuesday, U.S. Attorney Andy Luger said he plans to work with schools, mental health providers and Somali-American youth programs as part of a national pilot project to be launched this fall in the Twin Cities.

Richard Thornton, special agent in charge of the Minneapolis FBI division, also joined the discussion and said social services have an important role to play.

"I think it's absolutely crucial that we have mechanisms in place that can prevent people from even being radicalized, much less having us to get into the mix of investigating them once they have been radicalized and are aspiring to travel or have traveled," he said.

Thornton confirmed that about 15 young people have left the state to join the so-called Islamic State in Syria.

The most vulnerable targets are those who are estranged from their families or communities, and are struggling with their identity, Luger said.

"And they play to that from overseas with very sophisticated online media campaigns that say to these disenfranchised kids, 'You belong with us. We're your home. We're your spiritual guide,'" he said.

The videos project a utopian life that is at odds with the dangers and hardship that await foreign fighters once they arrive overseas, Luger said.

He said he wants to send a different message through online videos, possibly featuring celebrities.

Minnesota efforts receive national attention

Luger's efforts to build bridges with the Somali-American community -- the nation's largest -- have received international attention as other Western countries grapple with departures of their own citizens joining ISIS.

Next week, Luger and other Twin Cities law enforcement officials will travel to Copenhagen to share with Danish officials their models of outreach with Somali imams, women and elders.

On a recent visit to Minneapolis, a Danish delegation observed Luger and Thornton at such a meeting with Somali-American community members.

"They're not as far along as we are in terms of law enforcement engaging with their communities," Luger said of the Danish government. "They were kind of wide-eyed that we were having the kind of open discussion that they told me they just don't have."

One city in Denmark, however, has been open to new approaches in the fight against radicalization: rehabilitating the Danish Muslims who return from Syria through therapy and working with families.

Several Western countries have struggled with what to do with former ISIS enlistees who want to return home. British Prime Minister David Cameron has proposed giving police the power to confiscate passports of those suspected of joining ISIS to prevent them from re-entering the country.

But Luger said he doesn't expect many former fighters to return to Minnesota, given that they will likely die on the battlefield.

"The reality is most of the travelers from Minnesota are not coming back," he said.

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