Minneapolis police chief issues apology for linking Somali youth to local crime
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara recently issued a public apology to the Somali community following controversial remarks he made during a WCCO interview. In the discussion, O’Hara connected “East African kids” to crime in Minneapolis, particularly in the aftermath of a deadly Halloween shooting in the Dinkytown area, a neighborhood that has seen a surge in criminal activity, including assaults and robberies. O’Hara’s comments were perceived as harmful and out of context, prompting a petition on Change.org that demanded an apology, citing the longstanding scrutiny faced by the East African community in Minneapolis. In his apology, O’Hara expressed gratitude for the community’s support and emphasized the need for collaboration to address serious issues affecting the area, stating, “If people have taken anything that I have said out of context in a way that’s caused harm, I apologize, and I’m sorry for that because that’s not my intention at all.”
The backdrop of O’Hara’s comments is a complex and troubling narrative involving the Somali community in Minnesota. Recent reports have surfaced alleging that funds from the community have been funneled to Al-Shabaab, a terrorist organization linked to al-Qaeda. This revelation has heightened tensions and scrutiny, with politicians, including former President Donald Trump, calling for the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Somalis in Minnesota. Trump’s announcement suggested that Somali gangs were terrorizing the state and that taxpayer dollars were missing, further complicating the community’s already precarious situation. The allegations of financial misconduct, including a fraudulent scheme involving the Feeding our Future program, have led to calls for investigations by local lawmakers. Critics argue that these issues not only betray taxpayer trust but also pose significant national security risks, as funds intended for vulnerable populations may be ending up in the hands of terrorists.
As the situation unfolds, the Minneapolis Somali community finds itself at a crossroads, grappling with the implications of O’Hara’s comments and the broader societal challenges they face. The community has historically been a vibrant part of Minneapolis, contributing to its cultural diversity and economic landscape. However, the intersection of crime, political rhetoric, and financial scrutiny paints a complex picture that demands careful navigation. O’Hara’s apology is a step towards mending relations, but the road ahead will require sustained dialogue and collaborative efforts to address the underlying issues affecting both the Somali community and the city at large.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocVRVNLrtq0
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara
apologized to the Somali community for a comment he made connecting “East African kids” to crime.
“The Somali community here in Minneapolis has been welcoming and has shown love towards me, and I appreciate it,” O’Hara said at a news conference on Thursday. “Over the last three years we have been working together to try and address some of the real serious problems that we have in our community.”
“We have to be honest at times with the problems that we’re having in our community, and we need our community to help us fix those problems together because it’s real and it’s serious. At the same time, if people have taken anything that I have said out of context in a way that’s caused harm, I apologize, and I’m sorry for that because that’s not my intention at all,” O’Hara added.
In an interview with WCCO earlier this month, O’Hara was speaking about a deadly Halloween shooting as well as juvenile crime plaguing the city when he made the comment.
Alpha News
reported that the Dinkytown area, where the shooting took place, has seen a series of crimes including assaults, robberies, shootings and auto thefts.
TRUMP TERMINATES DEPORTATION PROTECTIONS FOR SOMALI NATIONALS LIVING IN MINNESOTA ‘EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY’
During the interview, he stated that the young people committing the crimes were not “poor kids from Minneapolis,” but rather kids that come from out of town who take “mommy’s Mercedes-Benz to Dinkytown, and they don’t know where they are.”
“Groups of kids, groups of East African kids that are coming from surrounding communities and not just one community, kind of all over the place,”
O’Hara told WCCO
.
After the interview, a petition on
Change.org
demanded an apology from O’Hara, saying that the East African community of Minneapolis “has already been carrying the weight of unfair scrutiny for years” and that the chief’s comment would “deepen that burden.”
The Minneapolis Somali community has faced scrutiny on a national level in recent days after a bombshell report revealed a series of alleged financial schemes that ended with terrorists getting taxpayer dollars. Ryan Thorpe and Christopher F. Rufo of the Manhattan Institute found that Al-Shabaab, an al Qaeda-linked terrorist organization in Somalia, was receiving funds that could be traced back to Minnesota.
“Every scrap of economic activity, in the Twin Cities, in America, throughout Western Europe, anywhere Somalis are concentrated, every cent that is sent back to Somalia benefits Al-Shabaab in some way,” a former official who worked on the Minneapolis Joint Terrorism Task Force told Thorpe and Rufo.
Following the report, President
Donald Trump
announced he was ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Somalis in Minnesota.
The
Secretary of Homeland Security
may designate a country for TPS if nationals cannot return safely or if the country “is unable to handle the return of its nationals adequately.” Countries currently under TPS are Burma, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Haiti, Lebanon, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Venezuela and Yemen.
“Minnesota, under
Governor Waltz
, is a hub of fraudulent money laundering activity. I am, as President of the United States, hereby terminating, effective immediately the Temporary Protected Status (TPS program) for Somalis in Minnesota. Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great State, and BILLIONS of dollars are missing. Send them back to where they came from. It’s OVER!,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Rufo, one of the authors of the bombshell report, said Trump’s announcement was a “great start” but that there is still more work to do.
“Canceling TPS for Minnesota Somalis is a great start. Next: review all asylum, refugee, and citizenship applications for any hint of fraud or technical error; then initiate denaturalizations and mass deportations up to the furthest limits of the law. They have to go home,”
Rufo wrote on X
.
MINNESOTA TAXPAYER DOLLARS FUNNELED TO AL-SHABAAB TERROR GROUP, REPORT ALLEGES
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn, who praised Trump’s decision, wrote a letter on Friday to U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota Daniel Rosen demanding an investigation. The letter was also signed by Emmer’s fellow Minnesota Republicans, Rep. Pete Stauber, Rep. Michelle Fischbach, and Rep. Brad Finstad.
“It is alleged that Minnesota’s Somali community, the largest in the nation, has been sending millions back to Somalia via the hawala network, an informal money trafficking network which is notorious for funds ending up in terrorist networks, and in this instance, Al-Shabaab,” the letter reads.
The lawmakers cited the various cases involving members of the Somali community, including the Feeding our Future
fraud scheme
, fraud in the Housing Stabilization Services program, Child Care Assistance program and Minnesota’s Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention program.
“It is bad enough that these individuals are defrauding our state, taking services and funds away from children and the most vulnerable, but now there is a good reason to believe that Minnesota taxpayer dollars are going straight into terrorists’ hands. These new allegations present not only a serious betrayal of taxpayer trust, but also a grave threat to our national security,” the letter states.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Walz’s office for comment.
