Minnesota House Republicans are urging federal prosecutors to “stamp out” Somali gang violence in the state after local authorities have identified at least a dozen Minnesota-based gangs brazenly committing shootings, stabbings, and murders.
All four members of Minnesota’s GOP delegation — House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, alongside Reps. Pete Stauber, Michelle Fischbach, and Brad Finstad — sent a letter on Thursday to Daniel Rosen, the U.S. attorney for the District of Minnesota, about the alarming rise of Somali gang activity statewide.
The representatives told Rosen that they extend their “full support in prosecuting those involved to the fullest extent of the law.”
“We cannot ignore gang violence simply because of the demographics of those involved,” the congressmen wrote. “We cannot ignore that there are twelve Somali gangs operating in Minnesota.”
The delegation’s letter cited a public service announcement issued earlier this month by Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher, alerting the Greater Minneapolis area about the growing threat of Somali gang violence. Fletcher, whose office patrols the metropolitan area surrounding Minneapolis and St. Paul, estimated approximately 300 active Somali gang members, mostly teenagers, are in the Twin Cities region.
Investigators in Fletcher’s office have linked Somali gangs to 14 murders and more than 100 shootings over the last two years, with gunfights breaking out at massively attended public events such as high school graduations and the Minnesota State Fair.
“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, if you won’t assimilate, then get the hell out of here,” Emmer said in a statement. “First it was an estimated $9 billion in fraud, now it’s out-of-control violence.”
As recent as Wednesday, a shooting involving more than 20 gunshots fired off in Edina, a suburb of Minneapolis, is believed to be gang-related. Residents reported to Crime Watch Minneapolis seeing over 50 Somali youth gathered at the time of the shooting.
Fletcher has since faced intense criticism from members of the county’s Somali community, who say that his public advisory was “racializing crime” and stigmatizing the entire Somali population.
At a town hall he hosted on Tuesday, the sheriff said his office is trying to address the “danger of denial” directly within the community before more teenagers are killed in the streets.
“We’re here to save children,” Fletcher told the meeting’s participants. “That’s our mission at the sheriff’s office: Saving children both from getting into a life of crime and from children getting shot.”
Imam Hassan Jama, of the Alhikma Islamic Center, said that Fletcher should not have singled out Somali gangs. Addressing the room full of mostly Somali attendees, Jama said officials should call out “crime as crime” rather than focus on a particular ethnicity of the perpetrators.
“This is way bigger than us. It’s an America problem. It’s a state problem,” Jama insisted. “Still we have a horrible experience and devastating messages coming from Donald Trump and messages coming from you.”
Fletcher said that Somali gangs, though they account for only 13% to 23% of the Twin Cities’ total gang population, are committing a disproportionate amount of the street violence.
Jama asked whether Fletcher would consider apologizing to the Somali community. Fletcher, however, stood by his statements. “No, I am not sorry,” Fletcher said. “It started the conversation.”
Shouts reportedly erupted in the crowd after Fletcher defended his remarks.
SOMALI GANGS ARE TERRORIZING THE MINNEAPOLIS AREA, SHERIFF SAYS
Fletcher presented footage from social media showing suspected gang members fighting or threatening each other, including clips of children en masse punching and stomping on one another at the Mall of America. Another video showed a brawl at a World Cup watch party in Minneapolis over the weekend.
“You couldn’t possibly watch those videos and not be concerned about your children,” Fletcher said.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
