Tuesday, June 14, 2016

'Minnesota Men' on Trial

'Minnesota Men' Guilty


"(In Minneapolis) When the first group of 'Minnesota men' was charged with conspiring to join ISIS in April 2015, it made front pages across the country. By the time the case went to court last month, however, the national media were almost nowhere to be found. Having attended the three-week-long trial daily, I can confidently say reporters should have paid a visit before the jury returned guilty verdicts June 3 against the three conspirators who contested the charges against them.

"I had to take in the evidence with my own eyes and ears to understand the gravity of the case against the Minnesota men, as media reports impassively referred to the Somali-American would-be terrorists. That evidence—overwhelming, devastating, shocking—was newsworthy. In his closing argument, one defense attorney professed that his client may have gotten into a situation over his head. But given the facts of the case—and the statements of those who protested that it went to trial at all—we might be in further over our heads than those convicted."

No comments: