Minnesota / Somali men were stopped for speeding, prosecutors contend

update on 8 charged in US-Somali youth terror network.Charges unsealed in missing Somalis terror probe‎ -
 
The five men were traveling 4 mph over the speed limit and that gave state troopers the only reason they needed to pull their vehicle over, federal prosecutors contended Tuesday in the case of a man charged in connection with the exodus of Somali men to their homeland.In a motion filed in the case of Abdow Munye Abdow, government lawyers say that the stop was legal and that any statements the man made should not be suppressed, as his lawyer has requested Abdow's lawyer claimed Nevada state troopers stopped the car Abdow and four other Somali men were riding in north of Las Vegas last October because of their skin color.
But in a 25-page reply to the defense's motion to suppress, federal prosecutors said race or ethnicity had nothing to do with the stop, but speeding did."The troopers had reasonable suspicion that the vehicle in which the defendant was traveling was involved in criminal activity," the memorandum said. "The vehicle was traveling at 79 mph despite the posted maximum speed limit was 75 mph."Abdow, 26, of Chanhassen, was indicted last year on two counts of lying to federal agents. FBI agents had questioned him after he returned to the Twin Cities from Nevada, and he allegedly lied to them about who had rented the car and whether he knew the other passengers. Records showed he had rented the vehicle.Abdow, a medical technician, is among 14 men who have been charged as part of an investigation into the exodus of several young local Somali men back to Africa. Prosecutors are trying to determine if the men were recruited to fight in Somalia by a group known as al-Shabaab, which the U.S. State Department says is linked to al-Qaida. Nevada State Patrol troopers Gary Smith and Neil Ferguson were parked along Interstate 15 north of Las Vegas on the night of Oct. 6 when they noticed a Chevrolet HHR drive past, they later testified. They said the vehicle got their attention because it was speeding.Statistics from the Nevada Department of Transportation show that 61 percent of vehicles along that stretch of interstate are going faster than 75 mph. Citing that and other factors, Abdow's lawyer, Earl Gray, argued that the troopers stopped the vehicle because of the occupants' race.The troopers got identification from only three of the five men: Abdow; driver Cabdulaahi Ahmed Faarax, 33, of Bloomington; and Adam Bonaya Ali, 23, of St. Paul. When they radioed the information to their dispatcher, they were told Faarax might be involved in a terrorist group and were warned to "use caution," the government's memorandum says.Although the men in the car gave inconsistent answers about where they were going and why, the troopers decided there was no reason to detain them and told them they could leave. They then asked Abdow if they could search the car. He signed a consent form, and the troopers found nothing illegal.Gray has argued that the traffic stop was illegal and that, because it was the stop that prompted FBI agents to question Abdow two days later, any statements he made to the agents should be thrown out. And, he argued, because those alleged statements provide the basis for the criminal charges, they should be thrown out, too.But prosecutors said the troopers had reasonable suspicions and enough reasons to pull the car over."(T)he time of day, the deserted location in Nevada, and the position of the patrol vehicle when it first encountered defendant's vehicle are all consistent with a speeding violation as opposed to troopers randomly choosing a vehicle to pull over," the government's motion says. "The violation of Nevada law provided Trooper Ferguson a reasonable and articulable basis — indeed, it provided him with probable cause — to stop the defendant's vehicle."Two days after the traffic stop, Faarax and another man believed to have been in the car, Abdiweli Yassin Isse, 24, of Minneapolis, crossed the border into Mexico at San Ysidro, Calif. Faarax and Isse were later charged with conspiracy to kidnap, kill, maim and injure people outside of the U.S., and they have not been apprehended.
Ali has not been charged.
David Hanners can be reached at 612-338-6516.