Excerpt
SUMMARY: Minnesota may be a world away from Syria or Iraq, but the state’s large Somali community has made it an appealing field for seeking recruits for al-Shabab and other Islamic militant groups. Special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro reports on one Minneapolis man’s efforts to offset extremist propaganda with his own media campaign.
FRED DE SAM LAZARO (NewsHour): A kind of cartoon war has been declared in Minneapolis, one aimed mainly at young Muslim men.
It is a world away from Syria, Iraq or the Horn of Africa, but Minnesota is home to at least 30,000 Somalis, the largest such community in the U.S. Most are refugees from a war-torn nation that’s long been a haven for Islamist extremist groups.
Groups like the al-Qaida linked Al-Shabaab and Islamic State, or ISIS, have recruited from this community, mainly through videos on the Internet. The FBI says up to 40 young men from Minnesota have traveled to Somalia and Syria since 2007.
In response, 39-year-old Mohamed Amin Ahmed, convenience store manager who’s lived here since 1998, developed his own media campaign.
MOHAMED AMIN AHMED: My goal is to compete, to take the values of the majority of the Muslims and go after the kids between the age of 8 and 16 and compete for their mind-space.
FRED DE SAM LAZARO: What offended you the most?
MOHAMED AMIN AHMED: The fact that they claim my faith. It is the greatest inheritance we have is our faith.
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