MINNEAPOLIS – Minnesota's chief federal prosecutor will lead a local delegation of law enforcement and Somali community leaders to Washington on Tuesday for a White House summit on combating terrorist recruitment in the U.S.
It is estimated the Islamic State terror group, also known as ISIL, has 20,000 to 30,000 fighters right now, but it is looking for more, attempting to seduce young Somali-Americans in Minnesota to join.
"It's not
The question Luger and others will try and answer is how do you stop it?
Luger says ISIL targets vulnerable Somali-Americans, ones with an identity crisis in a new country.
"Where do I fit in? Am I Somali? Am I Minnesotan? Am I American? And Al-Shabaab and now ISIL play on that and draw them into a new world that they promise will be better but, in fact, is not," said Luger.
A newly released video on Youtube produced by the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office is an example of one of the many pieces of this project -- linking Somali community leaders with law enforcement leaders -- in an effort to establish trust with Somali youth.
"One of the requests that I've gotten from relatives and friends of people who have travelled overseas is to work with the community to build community-led intervention teams that will be the first line of defense," said Luger.
The Minneapolis-St. Paul program formally starts next month.
Officials from Los Angeles and Boston will also present their federally funded pilot projects along with representatives from 50 different countries.
The Minnesota team will meet with Vice President Biden on Tuesday and President Obama on Wednesday.
