Minnesota Man Accused of Communicating With Islamic State Faces New Charges for Threatening to 'Blow Up' Walgreens

A Minnesota man was charged Tuesday after allegedly walking into a Walgreens over the weekend and making terroristic threats.

Abdul Raheem Habil Ali-Skelton, 23, faces multiple felony counts after he reportedly threatened to “shoot up” the drugstore located in a Minneapolis suburb.

Abdul Raheem Habil Ali-Skelton, 23 (Hennepin County Sheriff�s Office via AP)

According to WCCO-TV, Ali-Skelton entered the store just before 3 a.m. Sunday and accused a male customer of having a relationship with his girlfriend. The complaint against Ali-Skelton states that he lunged at the man numerous times and threatened to hit him with a bottle.

After this, the store manager who witnessed the event intervened, telling the two men to leave. But Ali-Skelton said he had a gun and would “shoot up the place,” according to the complaint. He also reportedly claimed to be part of a terrorist organization and threatened to “blow up” the store.

Ali-Skelton’s arrest comes only a week after he was charged with making a false statement to FBI officials regarding his contact with Syrian-based affiliates of the Islamic State. According WCCO, he is expected to plead guilty in U.S. District Court next month for telling agents that his last contact with the group was May or early June of last year when prosecutors said that Al-Skelton knew he had communicated with members of the terrorist group as recently as July 4.

The 23-year-old was in custody Tuesday and held on $30,000 bail. Court records did not list an attorney who could comment on the new charges, WCCO reported.

Ali-Skelton’s attorney in the federal case, Robert Richman, has claimed that his client was scared when he provided statements to the FBI that he has since admitted were false.

Richman spoke about the new charges on Tuesday. “From what I understand about those allegations, if they are true … they are completely out of character with the very mild-mannered Abdul Ali-Skelton, (whom) I have known for quite some time,” he said.

Richman said the former allegations regarding his client’s communication with members of the terror group are not related to the new charges.