Man charged with threatening to shoot, blow up Walgreens
A Minnesota man accused of lying to the FBI about when he last contacted the Islamic State group was charged Tuesday in state court after allegedly threatening to "shoot up" a Walgreens.
Abdul Raheem Habil Ali-Skelton, 23, faces three felony counts of making terroristic threats in connection with Sunday's incident at the store in Brooklyn Park.
According to the complaint, Ali-Skelton went into the store early Sunday and accused a customer of having a relationship with his girlfriend. The complaint said Ali-Skelton then advanced on the man multiple times and threatened to hit him with a bottle.
A store manager intervened and told the two to leave. Ali-Skelton said he had a gun and would "shoot up the place." He also said he was part of a terrorist organization and that he would "blow up" the store, the complaint said.
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Ali-Skelton was in custody Tuesday and ordered held on $30,000 bail. Court records do not list an attorney to comment on the new charges.
Ali-Skelton is expected to plead guilty in U.S. District Court next month to one count of making a false statement to FBI agents.
In that case, federal prosecutors say Ali-Skelton told the FBI last July that his last contact with Syrian-based members of the Islamic State group was in May or early June 2015. But prosecutors say Ali-Skelton knew he had communicated with members of the group as recently as last July 4.
Ali-Skelton's attorney in the federal case, Robert Richman, has said his client was scared and made some comments to the FBI that he has since admitted were untrue. Richman did not elaborate on the nature of the alleged contact with members of the militant group.
Richman spoke about the state charges on Tuesday.
"From what I understand about those allegations, if they are true ... they are completely out of character with the very mild-mannered Abdul Ali-Skelton, (whom) I have known for quite some time," he said.
"I've been working with Mr. Ali-Skelton with respect to other matters and he is not dangerous. He is not violent."
Richman said the alleged communications between his client and Islamic State group members are not related to the new allegations. Ali-Skelton has another court date in the terror case set for next month, he added.
Federal authorities declined to say whether they are investigating the Walgreen's matter.
Kyle Loven, a spokesperson for the FBI, called it a "separate incident" from the federal case and deferred comment to Brooklyn Park police.
Ali-Skelton is not part of a broader terror-conspiracy case against a group of 10 young Twin Cities men who have been charged with plotting to travel to Syria to join ISIS. Four of the men have pleaded guilty, five are scheduled for trial in May, and another is believed to be fighting in Syria with the terror group.
MPR News reporters Laura Yuen and Brandt Williams contributed to this report