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Why A Young Minneapolis Man Wanted To Join ISIS

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

Now a development in a story we heard on this program last week. NPR's Dina Temple-Raston told us about an 18-year-old Minnesota man arrested for trying to join ISIS. Today he entered a guilty plea and, as Dina reports, began to explain why he wanted to join the group.

DINA TEMPLE-RASTON, BYLINE: In his plea agreement, Abdullahi Yusuf told prosecutors that last spring he and a handful of his friends began to get together to talk about going to fight in Syria. The young men agreed the regime there was killing innocent Muslims, and they wanted to stop it. The timing is important. It was before the U.S. declared ISIS a terrorist organization and before the group had started beheading hostages. While he awaits sentencing, a judge has allowed Yusuf to start a kind of de-radicalization program.

MARY MCKINLEY: We were approached by his attorneys. They knew that we had worked with Somali American teens in the past.

TEMPLE-RASTON: That's Mary McKinley, the person behind the rehab program. The plea clears the way for the counseling to begin. Dina Temple-Raston, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

Dina Temple-Raston is a correspondent on NPR's Investigations team focusing on breaking news stories and national security, technology and social justice.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.