Jeanine Brudenell, who formerly served as the Somali liaison for the Minneapolis Police Department, told Fox News much of the extremism that has sparked in recent years – perhaps ironically – stemmed from the crackdown to dismantle local street gangs.

“In trying to lead youth away from joining gangs, many parents were taking their children to the mosques, which deal with everything, including mental health concerns,” she said. She said that opened the way for radicalization.

In one case, Zakaria Maruf, was known for some time as a member of the local Somali Hot Boyz gang. Yet he is reported to have become deeply religious after abandoning the street life,  and around 2008 is alleged to have fled abroad. He was killed in Somalia the following year.

ISIS RECRUITMENT DRIVE IN SOMALIA COULD PROVE 'MASSIVE THREAT TO THE US PRESENCE' IN THE REGION

As for Omar, she spoke up for a group of six Somalis arrested in 2015 for trying to cross into Mexico, as part of a plan to join ISIS in Syria. As the case went to trial the following year, the then-state representative wrote a letter to the trial judge requesting “compassion” - and lighter sentencing on behalf of one of the Minnesota men, who was facing 30 years jail time.

“Such punitive measures not only lack efficacy, they inevitably create an environment in which extremism can flourish, aligning with the presupposition of terrorist recruitment,” Omar wrote. “The best deterrent to fanaticism is a system of compassion. We must alter our attitude and approach; if we truly want to affect change, we should refocus our efforts on inclusion and rehabilitation.”

ISIS has long waged a recruitment and propaganda war online.

ISIS has long waged a recruitment and propaganda war online. (Reuters)

Her position has been slammed by those who say she hasn't taken a tough enough stand.

“Rep. Omar is asking for our justice system to support known terrorists, this sets an extremely poor precedence and should not be allowed,” contended Rudolph Atallah, chief executive officer of White Mountain Research, and former Africa Counterterrorism in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. “She clearly has a bias and an agenda and does not understand what the United States truly stands for.”

ILHAN OMAR ONCE BLAMED 'OUR INVOLVEMENT IN OTHER PEOPLE'S AFFAIRS' AFTER AL-SHABAB ATTACK ON KENYAN MALL

Omar has also been criticized by others in her community who contend her plea didn’t go far enough.

“A lot of people were disappointed, they felt she could have done more,” one Minneapolis local noted, arguing the boys had been coerced into making final arrangements to flee abroad by FBI informants, and would never have gone that far without encouragement.

Omar's office did not respond to a request for further comment.

Meanwhile, authorities have pushed back against the argument the Somalis arrested crossing into Mexico wouldn't have done so without the FBI involvement. Officials also said they repeatedly met with the families of the suspects, cautioning parents about their children's plans - to no avail.

“We would go out and interview people, try for an intervention, and really try to stop those people from going. But they were determined to go. They were committed. We tried to stop and could not,” one source said. “We had to prosecute to stop them from going.”

While Daud ended up with the 30-year sentence, others charged with similar offenses have since been more fortunate. In November 2016, a Minnesota judge gave 21-year-old Abdullahi Yusuf an unprecedented opportunity to avoid jail time by undergoing experimental “rehabilitation,” after having pled guilty in 2014 to purporting to join ISIS.

Six months later, he was back before the Judge having violated the terms of his probation – having been caught watching a news documentary about western ISIS fighters in the halfway house where he was confined. Nonetheless, Yusuf completed the carefully tailored “Heartland Democracy Education” program centered on studying literature, philosophy and writing poetry and in late 2017 was “integrated back into society” where he will be monitored for the next 20 years.

His lawyer, Jean Brandl, told Fox News Yusuf’s “transformation” has been nothing short of “successful” and one that could be adapted to others going down a dangerous road to radicalization.

“It was a program uniquely tailored to Abdullahi, but which can and does work with all teens or young adults who are straying onto unhealthy paths. (It) allowed Abdullahi to see his role as a member of his society rather than as an outsider,” Brandl continued, underscoring that it “can be used to make any young person feel integrated rather than at war with his or her personal universe.”

Abdullahi Yusuf, a Somali-American who was caught at the airport on his way to join a terrorist group, has since completed the first de-radicalization program in the United States. 

Abdullahi Yusuf, a Somali-American who was caught at the airport on his way to join a terrorist group, has since completed the first de-radicalization program in the United States. 

Authorities told Fox News that Yusuf was indeed a rare and unique case, in that he had gone from being the ringleader planning the move abroad to largely walking away from it prior to arrests being made.

 

Going forward, authorities say they are adjusting their approach to deal with the ever-changing threat climate.

 

“Our focus now is on home-grown violent extremists, and the Somali population is a factor in that,” added the federal official, highlighting a 2016 incident in which a Somali-American embarked on a mass stabbing spree at the St. Cloud mall in Minnesota, before being fatally shot by an off-duty police officer. “That is a more likely scenario at this point than a large class of kids trying to get to a foreign terrorist organization in the theater of war.”