The defense attorneys for seven Minnesota suspects accused of supporting terrorism argue that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant can’t be designated a terrorist organization because it operates as a government and provides services to citizens in the territories in controls within Syria, despite ISIL’s heavily-documented brutality toward people in the areas it controls.
“While the group has adopted harshly violent and repressive tactics, and engages in military and insurgency attacks against the Syrian and Iraqi armies, it has also embarked on a systematic process of civilian governance over the eight to 10 million people with the territory it controls,” attorneys said.
The lawyers also say their clients’ charges are too broad and label anyone inside a country controlled by a terrorist organization as a supporter of terror. The attorneys claim that because ISIL provides services inside the territories it controls, those regions can’t be referred to as terrorist states.
Another motion calls for the drawback of security at trial because it could negatively affect the jury, according to attorneys.
“If allowed, this extraordinary display of security would be present from the moment jurors arrive at the courthouse until after they leave, serving as a constant reminder, not just of the fact that defendants are accused of a crime, but of the fact that they are accused of a crime related to terrorism,” the motion stated.
FBI agents arrested six of the seven suspects following a 10-month investigation. No trial date has been set. A hearing on motions is scheduled for Sept. 2 in front of U.S. District Judge Michael Davis.
