Talking Points: Use Of Paid Informant Causes Concern In Somali Community

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Unprecedented security is expected Tuesday when four of six Minnesota terror suspects arrested last month appear in federal court in Minneapolis.

At the last hearing in St. Paul, more than 200 supporters of the men, who are accused of trying to join ISIS, turned out.

Many expressed anger at the government's use of a paid informant in the case.

The young informant's recordings of the other six are some of the most damming pieces of evidence in the investigation.

But the news that the informant was paid $12,000 by the FBI for his work has fueled tensions in the local Somali community.

This weekend, at an extraordinary town hall meeting with members of the Somali community, U.S. Attorney Andy Luger defended the handling of federal cases involving paid informants.

But many in the community still suspect entrapment. Sadik Warfa, of the Global Somali Diaspora, said the concerns of entrapment are widespread. He organized Saturday's town hall meeting and was a guest on WCCO Sunday Morning.

He said, "The community feels that these paid informants, that they entrapped these young men, so this is the concern that the community has and we want to address."

The hearing for four of the young men will focus on whether they will remain jailed pending their trial.

The two other suspects were arrested in California and will be extradited here.

Eventually, all six are expected to be tried together, and their former-friend-turned-informant will be the star witness against them.