Somali defendant collapses in court
By David Hanners
Mohamud Said Omar spent months fighting extradition to the U.S.
Moments into a federal hearing Friday to determine whether he should remain jailed, terrorism conspiracy defendant Mahamud Said Omar collapsed to the courtroom floor while apparently having a seizure.
As he stood between his defense attorney and a prosecutor, who were telling a judge what type of interpreter the Somali-born Omar might need, the defendant let out what sounded like a gagging noise, took a step back from the podium and crumpled to the floor, his right hand apparently clenched.
Chief U.S. District Judge Michael Davis cleared the courtroom and ordered an ambulance called. Before emergency medical technicians from the Minneapolis Fire Department and Hennepin County Medical Center arrived, Omar had regained consciousness and deputy U.S. marshals had him sitting upright on the floor.
Since he was named in the terrorism-related charges two years ago, family members have been saying that Omar, 45, was physically ill and that they were concerned about his mental health.
They said those problems worsened in the months he spent in the Netherlands, where he unsuccessfully sought asylum before fighting extradition to the United States.
"He had hallucinations at times, (and was) short of breath," said Mohamed Osman, a brother who lives in Rochester who was at the hearing. "This guy, he's sick, sick, sick. He needs a lot of help. He needs a lot of help, mentally, physically."
After a seated Omar had been wheeled out of the courtroom in a counsel table chair
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for transport eight blocks to HCMC, defense attorney Matthew Forsgren said he considered his client's condition serious.
"I'm personally gravely concerned for him," Forsgren said. "I told the judge that we were aware of similar incidents" in the past.
Christine Hill, a spokeswoman for HCMC, said she couldn't confirm Omar was in the hospital.
Omar had been a janitor at Abubakar As-Saddique Islamic Center in Minneapolis and was indicted in August 2009. The government claims he aided the exodus of young Somali men from the Twin Cities to their homeland, where they took up arms for al-Shabaab.
Al-Shabaab, which the U.S. government has designated a foreign terrorist organization, is part of a coalition trying to gain control of Somalia, which is governed by a U.N.-backed Transitional Federal Government.
Omar is charged with conspiracy and providing material support to terrorists. Among other things, he is alleged to have provided money to buy AK-47 assault rifles for al-Shabaab in Somalia.
Omar had sought asylum in the Netherlands and was taken into custody there in November 2009 after the federal indictment against him was unsealed. He fought extradition, but exhausted his legal appeals and was returned to the U.S. earlier this month.
Friday's hearing was scheduled as a detention hearing. He has been held in the Anoka County Jail since being returned, and Forsgren has sought his release.
But the defense has also sought an interpreter fluent in the Somali dialect that Omar speaks. He said Omar speaks Maay Maay (sometimes referred to as Maay), spoken in southern and central Somalia. The African country's primary language is Af-Maxaad; while it is related to Maay, it is different.
Forsgren likened it to the differences between Spanish and Italian. While the tongues have some similarities, they also are very different.
The 16th edition of "Ethnologue: Languages of the World," published in 2009, estimated that nearly 1.9 million people in Somalia spoke Maay and that standard Somali "is difficult or unintelligible to Maay speakers, except when learned through mass communications, urbanization and internal movement."
The reference said Af-Maxaad is spoken by 8.3 million in Somalia and the dialect is "difficult or unintelligible to most Maay."
At a hearing last week, Forsgren complained that none of the Somali interpreters in federal court were proficient in Maay. On Thursday, he filed a motion asking Davis to appoint an interpreter that the defense had found.
Assistant U.S. Attorney James Lackner told Davis that for the purpose of Friday's hearing, the government had no objections with the defense's interpreter. But Davis said the issue was more than just an interpreter for a court hearing and that there could be "long-range complications for the trial."
The judge said he'd reviewed all cases involving Somali defendants in the federal court system and nobody else had raised the issue of different Somali dialects.
"There's not been one - not one - that's had any issue dealing with interpreters or speaking Maay Maay as their only dialect," the judge said.
Noting Omar had given statements to the FBI while in the Netherlands, Davis said the defense could argue the statements not be used as evidence because Omar might claim he didn't understand what he was being asked.
"We're going to have to have a full-blown hearing to deal with this issue," the judge said.
As Lackner was telling the judge that there had been "a number of different" law enforcement interviews with the defendant, Omar seemed to step back from the podium, appeared dazed and made what sounded like a gagging sound.
Then he collapsed. Members of his family and supporters from the Somali community gasped. Court security officers and deputy marshals quickly moved to aid him.
Davis cleared the courtroom of everyone but security officers, lawyers and family members. A few minutes later, he allowed reporters back in. By then, Omar was sitting upright on the floor and appeared to be responding to those talking to him.
Davis told Omar and the attorneys that medical tests were in order before the hearing was resumed. "We need a full understanding of what his health needs are," the judge said.
Prosecutors say Omar made two trips to Somalia in 2008. They claim that while the $800-a-month maintenance man was there, he stayed in an al-Shabaab safe house and gave the group money to buy AK-47 assault rifles.
Somalia's government fell in a 1991 coup, three years after civil war broke out. The Transitional Federal Government was later established, but a coalition that included al-Shabaab opposed it.
When the coalition and al-Shabaab took control of parts of the country, including the capital of Mogadishu, the transitional government brought in troops from Ethiopia. Al-Shabaab turned the presence of the troops into a recruiting tool, and prosecutors claim al-Shabaab's call for fighters reached the Twin Cities, home to the country's largest concentration of Somali immigrants.
Twenty people with ties to the Twin Cities have been charged in the investigation, dubbed "Operation Rhino" by the Justice Department. To date, six have entered guilty pleas, but only one has been sentenced, receiving three months in prison for lying to the FBI.
Omar is among four who await trial. Eight others are considered fugitives, and two of those charged died as fugitives in Somalia.
http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_18764268?nclick_check=1
David Hanners can be reached at 612-338-6516
By David Hanners
Mohamud Said Omar spent months fighting extradition to the U.S
Mohamud Said Omar spent months fighting extradition to the U.S.
Moments into a federal hearing Friday to determine whether he should remain jailed, terrorism conspiracy defendant Mahamud Said Omar collapsed to the courtroom floor while apparently having a seizure.
As he stood between his defense attorney and a prosecutor, who were telling a judge what type of interpreter the Somali-born Omar might need, the defendant let out what sounded like a gagging noise, took a step back from the podium and crumpled to the floor, his right hand apparently clenched.
Chief U.S. District Judge Michael Davis cleared the courtroom and ordered an ambulance called. Before emergency medical technicians from the Minneapolis Fire Department and Hennepin County Medical Center arrived, Omar had regained consciousness and deputy U.S. marshals had him sitting upright on the floor.
Since he was named in the terrorism-related charges two years ago, family members have been saying that Omar, 45, was physically ill and that they were concerned about his mental health.
They said those problems worsened in the months he spent in the Netherlands, where he unsuccessfully sought asylum before fighting extradition to the United States.
"He had hallucinations at times, (and was) short of breath," said Mohamed Osman, a brother who lives in Rochester who was at the hearing. "This guy, he's sick, sick, sick. He needs a lot of help. He needs a lot of help, mentally, physically."
After a seated Omar had been wheeled out of the courtroom in a counsel table chair
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for transport eight blocks to HCMC, defense attorney Matthew Forsgren said he considered his client's condition serious.
"I'm personally gravely concerned for him," Forsgren said. "I told the judge that we were aware of similar incidents" in the past.
Christine Hill, a spokeswoman for HCMC, said she couldn't confirm Omar was in the hospital.
Omar had been a janitor at Abubakar As-Saddique Islamic Center in Minneapolis and was indicted in August 2009. The government claims he aided the exodus of young Somali men from the Twin Cities to their homeland, where they took up arms for al-Shabaab.
Al-Shabaab, which the U.S. government has designated a foreign terrorist organization, is part of a coalition trying to gain control of Somalia, which is governed by a U.N.-backed Transitional Federal Government.
Omar is charged with conspiracy and providing material support to terrorists. Among other things, he is alleged to have provided money to buy AK-47 assault rifles for al-Shabaab in Somalia.
Omar had sought asylum in the Netherlands and was taken into custody there in November 2009 after the federal indictment against him was unsealed. He fought extradition, but exhausted his legal appeals and was returned to the U.S. earlier this month.
Friday's hearing was scheduled as a detention hearing. He has been held in the Anoka County Jail since being returned, and Forsgren has sought his release.
But the defense has also sought an interpreter fluent in the Somali dialect that Omar speaks. He said Omar speaks Maay Maay (sometimes referred to as Maay), spoken in southern and central Somalia. The African country's primary language is Af-Maxaad; while it is related to Maay, it is different.
Forsgren likened it to the differences between Spanish and Italian. While the tongues have some similarities, they also are very different.
The 16th edition of "Ethnologue: Languages of the World," published in 2009, estimated that nearly 1.9 million people in Somalia spoke Maay and that standard Somali "is difficult or unintelligible to Maay speakers, except when learned through mass communications, urbanization and internal movement."
The reference said Af-Maxaad is spoken by 8.3 million in Somalia and the dialect is "difficult or unintelligible to most Maay."
At a hearing last week, Forsgren complained that none of the Somali interpreters in federal court were proficient in Maay. On Thursday, he filed a motion asking Davis to appoint an interpreter that the defense had found.
Assistant U.S. Attorney James Lackner told Davis that for the purpose of Friday's hearing, the government had no objections with the defense's interpreter. But Davis said the issue was more than just an interpreter for a court hearing and that there could be "long-range complications for the trial."
The judge said he'd reviewed all cases involving Somali defendants in the federal court system and nobody else had raised the issue of different Somali dialects.
"There's not been one - not one - that's had any issue dealing with interpreters or speaking Maay Maay as their only dialect," the judge said.
Noting Omar had given statements to the FBI while in the Netherlands, Davis said the defense could argue the statements not be used as evidence because Omar might claim he didn't understand what he was being asked.
"We're going to have to have a full-blown hearing to deal with this issue," the judge said.
As Lackner was telling the judge that there had been "a number of different" law enforcement interviews with the defendant, Omar seemed to step back from the podium, appeared dazed and made what sounded like a gagging sound.
Then he collapsed. Members of his family and supporters from the Somali community gasped. Court security officers and deputy marshals quickly moved to aid him.
Davis cleared the courtroom of everyone but security officers, lawyers and family members. A few minutes later, he allowed reporters back in. By then, Omar was sitting upright on the floor and appeared to be responding to those talking to him.
Davis told Omar and the attorneys that medical tests were in order before the hearing was resumed. "We need a full understanding of what his health needs are," the judge said.
Prosecutors say Omar made two trips to Somalia in 2008. They claim that while the $800-a-month maintenance man was there, he stayed in an al-Shabaab safe house and gave the group money to buy AK-47 assault rifles.
Somalia's government fell in a 1991 coup, three years after civil war broke out. The Transitional Federal Government was later established, but a coalition that included al-Shabaab opposed it.
When the coalition and al-Shabaab took control of parts of the country, including the capital of Mogadishu, the transitional government brought in troops from Ethiopia. Al-Shabaab turned the presence of the troops into a recruiting tool, and prosecutors claim al-Shabaab's call for fighters reached the Twin Cities, home to the country's largest concentration of Somali immigrants.
Twenty people with ties to the Twin Cities have been charged in the investigation, dubbed "Operation Rhino" by the Justice Department. To date, six have entered guilty pleas, but only one has been sentenced, receiving three months in prison for lying to the FBI.
Omar is among four who await trial. Eight others are considered fugitives, and two of those charged died as fugitives in Somalia.
http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_18764268?nclick_check=1
David Hanners can be reached at 612-338-6516
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