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Back in Omar's district, police deal with gangs, relations with tight-lipped Somali community
Fox News ^ | 2-17-19 | Hollie McKay

Posted on 02/17/2019 6:48:20 AM PST by SJackson

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - In the dead of the cold, late night on Tuesday, a young Somali man was shot in the hip. Someone took him to the local trauma center, left him there, and drove off.

The man told police at his bedside that he didn’t know who shot him, who took him to the hospital, or why he was targeted. “I’m intoxicated,” he told cops, while doctors tended his wound, before insisting he didn't know anything else about what happened.

For the attending police officers, it was a frustrating, albeit familiar, response from a member of the Somali community, whose support in November sent one of their own, Rep. Ilhan Omar, to Congress. While Omar has spoken out frequently and forcefully on a range of issues - some that seem little connected to her district - most members of the Somali community she represents remain far more insular.

The national epidemic of shootings involving young African-American men in America's cities certainly isn't unique to Minneapolis. But some officers here believe issues of cultural assimilation involving the Somali immigrant community, and a struggle on both sides to better communicate law enforcement's mandate to protect and serve, makes it a particularly imposing challenge. One that politicians like Omar, they say, could do much more to effectively address.

“When they come here, they come with their own experiences of not trusting the police, and from a place where the police are known to be corrupt. And the challenge for us lies in trying to get them to cooperate,” said one law enforcement officer. “They’ll often call 911 when they need help. But when we come, they often won’t then tell us who is causing the problem so we can take action or stop the crime from happening again.”

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: minn; minnsomalis; omar; somalis; undocumented
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To: shelterguy
Not knocking Minnesota.

We lived in Scott County 16 years, finished one and built another house on Prior Lake.

Good years, f’sure.

41 posted on 02/17/2019 3:49:34 PM PST by Eric in the Ozarks (Baseball players, gangsters and musicians are remembered. But journalists are forgotten.)
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To: Eric in the Ozarks

We’ve chatted before. This ain’t the Minneapolis you remember.


42 posted on 02/17/2019 3:52:38 PM PST by shelterguy
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To: Liz

So many questions and no HONEST answers.


43 posted on 02/17/2019 5:10:27 PM PST by certrtwngnut (4- Do something,,,,even if it's wrong.)
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To: shelterguy
I was up on a sales visit (yes, I'm retired, sort of,) to Burnsville-St. Paul.
To see long gowns on ladies in the street is something different...
44 posted on 02/17/2019 5:37:40 PM PST by Eric in the Ozarks (Baseball players, gangsters and musicians are remembered. But journalists are forgotten.)
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