A St. Paul man who started to get violent after he decided to join the jihad and travel to Somalia, according to his family, was charged with making terroristic threats. The family of Sharmarke Duale, 20, told police he had done well in school until he began attending a local mosque, according to a criminal complaint. The name of the mosque was not mentioned.
The complaint says, "Since that time, he has been very disrespectful toward the women in the house and has threatened his father to try to get his father to assist Duale in getting a passport." It gives the following account of events.
Police were called Tuesday afternoon to the family's home about an assault in progress. They were told that a son had stabbed his mother and was trying to get back into the house by smashing a window with a shovel. Officers arrived to find Duale on the porch wielding a shovel. The mother was inside; police saw defensive stab wounds on her hands.
The complaint says the family said Duale was raising money for jihad and told his father, "Take me out of this country, or I will show you what will happen; things will not be good for you."
Duale's father, Mohamed Duale, vehemently denied telling police that his son was raising money for jihad. He said, "We never said these words. This is wrong what they put here; this is not from my family."
According to the complaint, Sharmarke tried to stab his father but cut his mother when she stepped in to intervene. He also punched his sister. His parents said they fear him and that he needs help. He has threatened to "chop (his sister and mother) in pieces" and "kill the girls."
Speaking to police at the county jail after his arrest, Duale said his mother had cut herself and that his family's claims were all lies. |