Four young Twin Cities men facing federal terrorism charges have been chosen for a first-of-its kind deradicalization program under the supervision of a Minneapolis judge and a German expert on Islamic extremism.
U.S. District Judge Michael Davis ordered the defendants to undergo an evaluation by the German scholar, who will visit Minnesota in April. The evaluation will factor into Davis' sentencing decisions — the four face potentially long prison sentences — and will help in designing a program to steer each away from radical ideology.
Davis said the evaluation would help him understand their motives and potential for rehabilitation. "It does not make sense why someone who's never been involved in any type of criminal activity, was not seriously religious, [would] in a very short period of time want to go over and be involved in jihad," he said in a briefing with reporters on Wednesday.
The defendants — Zacharia Yusuf Abdurahman, Abdirizak Mohamed Warsame, Abdullahi Mohamud Yusuf, and Hanad Mustafe Musse — have pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to provide material support to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The charges followed a monthslong federal investigation into an alleged plot by a group of young men to leave the United States and fight in the Middle East. Five other men have pleaded not guilty and await a May trial.
By all accounts, the program will be the first of its kind in the United States. Such efforts to deprogram radical recruits have gained traction in Europe in recent years as hundreds of young people have left to join Middle Eastern militants. But their track record remains limited.
Davis' order, issued Wednesday, says Daniel Koehler, a German specialist in Islamic fundamentalism, would identify the factors that drove the radicalization of the defendants, identify their risk of reoffending and specify strategies to steer them away from radical ideologies.
In December, Davis visited Koehler, who helped adapt a Berlin intervention program for neo-Nazis to would-be jihadis.
Davis said Wednesday that defendants will have the option to oppose the order in their cases.