FBI Says Minnesota Attacker Inspired By Radical Islam

The FBI announced at a press briefing Oct. 6 that they believe the Somali refugee who stabbed 10 people at a Minnesota mall Sept. 17 was influenced by radical Islam. Witnesses also reported that he asked victims if they were Muslim before stabbing them. 

Dahir Ahmed Adan was fatally shot by an off-duty police officer after carrying out his attack in St. Cloud, Minnesota, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.

FBI special agent Rick Thornton did not have evidence proving Adan was linked to a terrorist group, but he did suggest the 20-year-old was influenced by radical Islam.

“We were told (he) had not previously shown an interest in religion,” Thornton said, according to Daily Mail.

Thornton said Adan began reading the koran, withdrawing from social activities and encouraging people to become more religious.

“These behaviors individually may not be significant,” added Thornton, the Star Tribune reported. “However, the totality of Dahir Adan’s behavior and the actions suggest he may have been radicalized either with the influence of others or on his own.”

Surveillance footage showed Adan running through the mall with two knives. Witnesses say he asked some of his victims if they were Muslim before stabbing them.

None of Adan’s victims were killed in the attack.

A few hours afterwards, a media outlet affiliated with ISIS celebrated Adan’s attack.

“We have numerous credible witness accounts of him asking victims during the attack if they were Muslim and at least one instance yelling ‘Allahu akbar’ while stabbing one of his victims and others heard him yelling ‘Islam Islam’ during the attack,” Thornton said.

Authorities also believe the attack was premeditated. Adan hit a cyclist on the way to the mall in his car but did not stop.

In addition, he visited a convenience store he regularly frequented and when the clerk said they would see him later, Adan reportedly responded, “You won’t be seeing me again.”

“They believed he was doing as good as he used to do,” Abdulwahid Osman, the attorney for the Adan family, said, according to the Mail. “That is not the son they knew.”

The FBI has interviewed 180 people in the course of its 19-day investigation. Agents are still working on unlocking Adan’s phone, which they hope will contain more information about his motives.

Sources: Daily Mail, Minneapolis Star Tribune/ photo credit: Daily Mail