FBI makes arrests in MN, CA in counterterrorism action
The FBI arrested several people in Minneapolis and San Diego on Sunday as part of a joint terrorism task force investigation, a spokesman for U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger confirmed Sunday evening.
A Somali woman who said she was the mother of two men who were arrested told MPR News that the FBI arrived at her house around noon. One of her sons was arrested at her house; the other was arrested in San Diego.
She said more than a dozen FBI and police officers searched her house and confiscated a tablet computer owned by the son arrested in San Diego.
She said she met with four families Sunday whose sons were also arrested in the operation.
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Another Somali woman said her son was arrested in Minneapolis around 10 a.m. Sunday, after he returned home from work.
The FBI arrested a total of six men, according to family members, who said they didn't know why the men had been arrested.
Ben Petok, a spokesman for Luger, declined to offer further details but said there was no threat to public safety.
Authorities are planning a news conference Monday morning to provide more information.
Federal authorities have been investigating the departures of about 15 young people from the Twin Cities who allegedly traveled to Syria to support the terrorist group ISIS over the past year or so.