The FBI has arrested six men from Minnesota who were intent on traveling to Syria to join the terror group ISIS, officials said on Monday.
Andrew M. Lugar, the U.S. attorney for the District of Minnesota, detailed in a chilling press conference the great lengths the men went to in their attempt to join ISIS, saying numerous failures didn't dissuade them.
"What is remarkable about this case is nothing stopped these defendants from pursing their goal," he said.
Lugar said that the group of men is just one example of a serious problem with radicalization in the state.
"To be clear, we have a terror-recruiting problem in Minnesota," he said.
Lugar said four of the men were arrested in Minneapolis. He named them as Zacharia Yusuf Abdurahman, 19; Adnan Farah, 19; Hanad Mustafe Musse, 19; and Guled Ali Omar, 20.
The other two, 21-year-old Abdirahman Yasin Daud and 21-year-old Mohamed Abdihamid Farah, were arrested in San Diego, where they allegedly traveled to try to obtain fake passports to get to Syria via Mexico.
The men allegedly were part of a larger group who met regularly to plot their escape to Syria. Two of the members of their group, Abdullahi Yusuf and Hamza Ahmed, have already been charged with terrorism-related crimes.
A third member of their group, Abdi Nur, has also been charged. However, Nur successfully traveled to Syria last year.
Lugar said that parents and community members need to realize that it is not necessarily outside forces radicalizing young Minnesotan men, but their friends and even family members.
He said because of this, all community members need to be vigilant.
"It's our problem," he said. "A Minnesota problem."
Lugar added that the men did not have plans to attack the U.S., but seemed focused only on traveling to Syria.
Several Minnesota residents have gone in the last year to fight in Syria with ISIS, and at least one person from Minnesota has died in the battle.
Since 2007, a total of 22 young Somali man have gone from Minnesota to Somali to fight with terrorist group al-Shabaab, according to the Associated Press.
