TUCSON, Ariz. - There's strong reaction to the story of two men living in Tucson who the FBI says were about to fly to Egypt to join ISIS.
It's a story that makes some people shiver--the allegation that two men living in Tucson aspired to become ISIS killers.
The FBI says one of the men, Ahmad Mahad Mohamed wanted to be like Jehadi John a now dead ISIS fighter who made a show of beheading his victims.
According to the FBI charges both 21 year old Ahmad Mohamed and 20 year old Abdi Yemeni Hussein spoke in detail about their ambitions to kill for ISIS.
The FBI says its encounter with the two began in the online world of social media. What the FBI calls an online covert employee says he told Ahmad Mohammed he was overseas and Muhammad said he was a Somali supporter of ISIS eager to join ISIS and become a martyr.
Reaction to the arrest has played out on social media too, where President Trump described the arrest in a tweetand quoted one of the suspects, saying "One of them stated the best wake up call is Islamic State to get a victory or another 9/11." The President ends with, "Get smart people!"
Tucson Police Chief Chris Magnus tweeted not to judge the Somalian community by these two young men. He described the majority of Somalians in Tucson as peaceful, hard-working and decent and says, many immigrated to Tucson, in his words, “To escape torture, rape and unimaginable conditions in their home country. As with any other group there's always a handful of bad individuals but that's the tiny minority."
A statement from The Islamic Center of Tucson says in part, "We promote and encourage peaceful coexistence, tolerance, and compassion with our Tucson neighbors and everyone across the globe. There is no room for hate or violence in our halls."
Court documents say Ahmad Muhammad knew his own parents would not support his hope to join ISIS. He's quoted as saying "I only think about jihad everywhere I go but my father and mom they don't like jihad if they knew me I want to make hijrah, (that means traveling to fight) they would spy me."
