Minneapolis, MN – Three Somali American youth, Guled Omar, Abdirahman Daud and Mohamed Farah were convicted today, June 3, as the all-white jury came back with guilty verdicts. The sobbing of family members was audible in courtroom, during the 20 minute period where the guilty verdicts were read, and then confirmed by the jury. The convictions were for conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country, material support for terrorism and other charges, which could bring life in prison.

A sentencing date has yet to be set by trial judge Michael Davis. In this and other cases involving Somali Americans, Judge Davis has shown a bias against the defendants, frequently choosing to act like a prosecutor, peppering witnesses with his own questions.

The three young men were facing an uphill fight due to the fact that some of the laws they are being accused of violating, such as the material support for terrorism statutes, criminalize speech and are extremely broad.

Speaking at a press conference following outside the federal courthouse, Jess Sundin of the Anti-War Committee blasted the verdicts as unjust and said that government is trying to criminalize the Somali community as a whole.

#MinneapolisMN #GuledOmar #AbdirahmanDaud #MohamedFarah