Saturday 25 april 2026 {HMC}Â A Minneapolis man will spend more than eight years in federal prison for trying to join ISIS and support the terrorist organization.
A federal judge sentenced Abdisatar Ahmed Hassan, 23, to 102 months in prison followed by 15 years of supervised release. Hassan pleaded guilty in September 2025 to attempting to provide material support to ISIS, which the U.S. State Department designated as a foreign terrorist organization in 2014.
Court documents show Hassan started consuming ISIS propaganda in 2024. He downloaded videos and articles from ISIS media groups, including files titled “The life of a Mujahideen” and “The return of the Caliphate,” and reposted violent content on his social media accounts.
Hassan also obtained Arabic manuals on making explosives like C4 and HMTD. He researched ammunition-making, sniper training and drone technology, and looked up gun ranges and ISIS-inspired attacks online.
Hassan communicated regularly with ISIS recruiters operating in Somalia through social media. In November 2024, he reached out to an account spreading ISIS propaganda and asked for help contacting someone in ISIS-controlled areas, according to court documents.
He referred to people he communicated with as “commander” and “uncle.” He also referenced the “battlefield” in Somalia.
In December 2024, Hassan quit his job, emptied his savings and bought a one-way ticket to Somalia. “I will become ISIS straight away,” Hassan said, according to court documents.
FBI agents watched Hassan try to fly out of Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on Dec. 13, 2024. He was turned away because he didn’t have proper travel documents.
Hassan rebooked the same flight after getting more documents. On Dec. 29, 2024, he flew from Minneapolis to Chicago on his way to Somalia.
Customs and Border Protection agents stopped Hassan before he could board his international flight in Chicago. Inside his carry-on bag, agents found his birth certificate, naturalization certificate and high school diploma.
Hassan initially denied any wrongdoing during the interview. He later admitted he believed in ISIS, consumed their propaganda and wanted an Islamic caliphate established, court documents show.
“I did not believe in democracy and that America’s justice was in fact terrorism,” Hassan said, according to court documents.
After returning to Minnesota, Hassan kept researching ISIS attacks and posting about the group on social media. He praised the person who carried out the Jan. 1, 2025, ISIS-inspired attack in New Orleans that killed 14 people and injured dozens more.
Hassan called the attacker a “Muhaajid” and “the legend that killed the Americans,” according to court documents.
In late February 2025, Hassan created and posted his own ISIS-inspired videos. One showed him driving at night while holding a homemade black ISIS flag and displaying an open, long-bladed knife on his lap.
The FBI caught Hassan on Feb. 27, 2025. He had the same knife on him and the homemade ISIS flag in his car.
A grand jury charged Hassan in April 2025 with one count of attempting to provide material support to ISIS. He pleaded guilty in September 2025 before Judge Donovan W. Frank in U.S. District Court.
Judge Frank handed down the sentence on April 22, 2026.
“Hassan celebrated the 2025 murder of 14 innocent Americans in New Orleans—a senseless attack on American soil, attempted to travel in order to take up arms on behalf of ISIS, and when unable to get to his destination, promoted ISIS and al-Shabaab propaganda encouraging others to fight against the United States,” said FBI Minneapolis Division Special Agent in Charge Christopher D. Dotson.
The FBI, Joint Terrorism Task Force, Customs and Border Protection and the New York Police Department investigated the case.
Mike Bunge
