United States of America v. Abdisatar Ahmed Hassan

Minneapolis, Minnesota, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with attempting to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization.

Abdisatar Ahmed Hassan, 23, of Minneapolis, MN,began consuming information from and about ISIS and other State Department designated foreign terrorist organizations in at least 2024. For example, Hassan obtained and reposted ISIS propaganda articles and videos (some of them extremely violent) on his various social media accounts. He downloaded multiple files from a known media
wing of ISIS, with names like, “The life of a Mujahideen,” “The month of Jihad,” “The return of the Caliphate,” and “The path of jihad.” He obtained online manuals written in Arabic on how to make highly explosive materials such as C4, urea nitrate, HMTD, and hexamine. He openly posted his desire for jihad and an Islamic caliphate on his various social media accounts. He also obtained manuals on ammunition-making and sniper-training skills, contacted an online school specializing in gunsmithing and drone technology, and conducted online research on topics such as gun ranges, ISIS supporter, Somalia weapons, and various articles related to ISIS-inspired
attacks and terroristic acts on an interactive map.

According to court documents, Hassan had frequent and extensive social media communications with ISIS media wings and recruiters operating in Somalia. In November 2024, Hassan reached out to one such account that was spreading ISIS propaganda in Somalia and expressly calling for the establishment of an Islamic caliphate and the overthrow of the Somali government, and Hassan requested help contacting someone in ISIS-controlled areas in Somalia. He also referred
to persons he communicated with as “commander” and “uncle” and referenced the “battlefield” in Somalia.

After several weeks of regular communication with accounts operated by ISIS members, Hassan prepared to leave behind his life in the United States in December 2024 and posted “I will become ISIS straight away.” Hassan quit his job, liquidated his savings, and bought a one-way plane ticket for travel from Minneapolis to Somalia, to join and fight on behalf of ISIS. On December 13, 2024, FBI agents surveilled Hassan attempt to fly to Somalia from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP). Lacking proper travel documents, however, he was turned away.
After acquiring additional travel documents, Hassan rebooked the same one-way itinerary to Somalia, and on December 29, 2024, he flew from MSP to Chicago, enroute to Somalia.

Prior to boarding his international flight in Chicago, Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Tactical Terrorism Response Team interviewed Hassan about his intentions, which prevented his onward travel. Inside Hassan’s only carry-on bag, CBP agents found his birth certificate, naturalization certificate, and high school diploma. During the interview, Hassan initially denied any nefarious intent but later professed his belief in ISIS, his consumption of ISIS propaganda, and his hopes for the establishment of an Islamic caliphate, telling the CBP agents that he did
not believe in democracy and that America’s justice was in fact terrorism.
Upon returning to Minnesota, Hassan continued researching ISIS attacks and activities and making social media posts espousing ISIS, including his praising the perpetrator of the January 1, 2025, ISIS-inspired terrorist attack in New Orleans, Louisiana, who killed 14 people and injured dozens more, referring to the perpetrator as a “Muhaajid” and “the legend that killed the Americans.” In late February 2025, Hassan created and posted his own ISIS-inspired videos,
including of him driving his vehicle at night, while holding a homemade black ISIS flag in his hand, and displaying an open, long-bladed buck-style knife on his lap.
The FBI arrested Hassan on February 27, 2025 on a Complaint-Warrant filed with the U.S. District Court. At the time of his arrest, Hassan had the same knife described above on his person and the homemade ISIS flag in his vehicle. On April 29, 2025, a grand jury returned an Indictment charging Hassan with one count of attempting to provide material support and resources to ISIS, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2339B, a qualifying “Federal crime of terrorism.”

On September 29, 2025, Hassan pleaded guilty to that charge before Judge Donovan W. Frank in U.S. District Court.

On April 22, 2026, following a hearing in U.S. District Court, Judge Frank sentenced Hassan to 102 months’ imprisonment, followed by 15 years of supervised release with special conditions.
“Abdisatar Hassan took active steps in an attempt to join and support ISIS—a brutal foreign
terrorist organization responsible for the violent deaths of thousands of innocent people,” said
FBI Minneapolis Division Special Agent in Charge Christopher D. Dotson. “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. The sentence handed down today takes a would-be terrorist off the streets and
sends a clear message that the FBI and our partners will unremittingly pursue anyone seeking to join or support a foreign terrorist organization.”

This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI, the Joint Terrorism Task Force, Customs and Border Protection, and the New York Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Bejar prosecuted the case with assistance from National Security Division Counterterrorism Section Trial Attorney Eric Hanson.

U.S. District Court, Judge Frank sentenced Hassan to 102 months’ imprisonment, followed by 15 years of supervised release with special conditions.