OUT OF ORDER

Chaos Unfolds at Minnesota ISIS Trial

Families of defendants and witnesses scuffle.

Tensions boiled over Wednesday during the trial of three Minneapolis-area men accused of attempting to join ISIS in Syria. According to several Minnesota Public Radio reporters in the room, Zahra Warsame, the sister of cooperating witness Abdirizak Warsame, allegedly had an outburst in court as her brother was set to take the stand—Zahra reportedly dated one of the defendants and was unhappy with being asked to support her brother. All three defendants were reportedly escorted out of the room as female marshals were summoned to restrain Zahra. After Burhan Mohumed, a friend of the defendants, arrived to break up the altercation, he was banned from the courthouse for the duration of the trial by Judge Michael J. Davis for refusing to identify himself and for having an “attitude.” The federal case against Guled Omar, Abdirahman Daud, and Mohamed Farah for allegedly conspiring to support ISIS and murder people abroad has sharply divided the involved families, MPR reports.