The two men, who originally came to the U.S. as refugees from Somalia, had spoken with an undercover FBI agent “whom they believed was a supporter of ISIS ideology,” the DOJ press release said.
“These communications revealed the defendants’ desire to travel overseas in order to fight on behalf of ISIS or to conduct an attack within the United States if they were unable to travel. Ultimately, the defendants purchased airline tickets to travel to Egypt, with the intention to travel on to Sinai and join ISIS,” the DOJ said.
The two men, Ahmed Mahad Mohamed, 21, and Abdi Yemani Hussein, 20, were arrested on July 26 after they checked in at the Tucson International Airport for their flight to Egypt. While both men came to the U.S. as refugees, Mohamed “had obtained lawful permanent resident status and Hussein remained a refugee,” the release said.
Special Agent Mike Mutari provided the affidavit in support of an application for a criminal complaint, alleging the two men planned to join ISIS once they left the U.S. He wrote in the affidavit that the investigation into Mohamed began in August 2018 “based on information which indicated Mohamed had a desire to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, that is, ISIS.” – READ MORE