Minneapolis, MN – The trial of Mahamud Said Omar continued here Oct. 15, with the prosecution and their witness, FBI agent Kiann VanDenover going all out to get a conviction against Mahamud Said Omar. Omar, who has done nothing wrong, is facing terrorism charges for allegedly helping the Somali resistance against the 2007 invasion of Ethiopia.

Court testimony revealed that VanDenover is part of a special ‘Horn of Africa’ FBI squad and participant in Minnesota’s Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Up until today, most witnesses have spent relatively little time talking about Omar or anything that he has done. Most of the testimony has been devoted to talking about the Somali resistance group, al-Shabab, and the young men from the Twin Cites who traveled to Somalia to fight the U.S.-backed Ethiopian invasion.

VanDenover made two trips to the Netherlands to interrogate Omar, who was being held in a Dutch prison pending extradition to the U.S.

Mick Kelly, of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, and who was present at the Oct. 15 proceedings states, “Today the prosecution put FBI agent VanDenover on the stand and some transcripts from wire taps. Nothing said in court today should convince any person with common sense that Mahamud Said Omar is guilty of any wrongdoing.”

Several of the FBI agents mentioned in today’s testimony played important roles in the Sept. 24, 2010 raids on Midwest anti-war and international solidarity activists.

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