Federal grand jury: Mpls. man tried to join ISIS
A federal grand jury has indicted a Twin Cities man on charges of trying to join the terrorist group ISIS in Syria.
Hamza Naj Ahmed, 19, is charged with trying to aid a foreign terrorist organization and conspiring to provide that support.
Federal officials say that, in November, Ahmed and three other young men took a Greyhound bus from Minneapolis to New York and tried to catch planes that would help them get to Syria.
But authorities removed him from a plane scheduled to depart for Istanbul before it left the gate at John F. Kennedy Airport and prevented the other three men from boarding.
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Earlier this month, the U.S. Attorney's office charged Ahmed with lying to the FBI. The indictment from the grand jury also charged him with making false statements, in addition to the two-terror related counts.
Ahmed, who is in federal custody, could be sentenced to life in prison.
On Twitter, he had described his desire to fight in Syria and to become a martyr, as well as feelings of alienation.
The other three men on the bus have not yet been charged.