Twin Cities Man Used I-35W Bridge Collapse Settlement to Help ISIS: Feds

A Twin Cities man who survived the 2007 Interstate 35W bridge collapse is facing charges in connection to the Islamic State.

United States Attorney for the District of Minnesota Andrew M. Luger announced Wednesday a criminal complaint charging Mohamed Amiin Ali Roble, 20, with conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State.

Roble is not in custody, and the complaint states that one of his co-defendants believes Roble is now in Syria. Three co-defendants were convicted at trial earlier this year.

Roble was given the money when he turned 18. He was 10 when he was injured in the bridge collapse.

In August 2014, Roble attempted to apply for a passport.

Roble told the passport specialist that his plans were to travel to China that month and return to the United States in September. He also told the passport specialist that he planned to study in China. When asked at which school in China he was going to study, Roble mumbled indistinctly in response and could not be understood by the passport specialist, the complaint states. Roble was issued a passport on Aug. 26, 2014.

According to the complaint, on Oct. 4, 2014, Roble and his mother flew from Minneapolis to China. Roble made six cash withdrawals of approximately $1,000 each from an ATM in Wuhan, China. The withdrawals were made from the account containing the funds Roble obtained from the bridge collapse settlements.

In November 2014, Roble bought airfare and flew to Istanbul, Turkey. From Turkey, Roble called his mother and told her that he was in Turkey "shopping" and that he needed an airline ticket back to China, which she purchased for him, according to the complaint. Roble returned to China shortly thereafter.

On Dec. 27, 2014, Roble again traveled to Istanbul, but this time he did not return.

About that same time, in November 2014, the complaint states that four of Roble’s co-defendants attempted to travel from Minnesota to Syria to join ISIS, via New York’s JFK International Airport. The four co-defendants were stopped by federal law enforcement agents at JFK from flying from New York to various destinations in Europe.

One of these men, Abdirizak Warsame, was interviewed in January 2016 and told investigators he had seen photographs on social media of Roble in a desert setting. Warsame is also charged in connection to ISIS.

In some photographs, Warsame says he saw Roble carrying a black ISIS flag; in others, he is carrying what appears to be an assault rifle.

So far, 11 men from the Twin Cities have been charged with trying to help ISIS, according to the Justice Department. The Pioneer Press reported that prosecutors say the men were part of a group of friends in the Twin Cities’ Somali community who were inspired to join ISIS.

In recent years, about 12 men have left Minnesota to join militant groups in Syria, according to the FBI.

Image via Shutterstock