Huge Brawls between Somali students and Lewiston, Maine high schoolers

Lewiston Sun Journal ^ | September 12, 2002 | Lindsay Tice

[gulfwarvet]

School officials fielded anxious phone calls from parents Wednesday, one day after a fight between a Somali student and another teenager broke out at Lewiston High School and turned into an afternoon melee off school grounds.

“What we’re trying to do now is assure parents that we have a very safe school,” said Principal Patrick O’Neill.

Record-setting heat and community friction have caused tensions to rise recently in the 1,250-student high school, officials acknowledged. But, said Superintendent Leon Levesque, “The school has been very calm.”

On Wednesday, disruptions to the school came not from fights but from rampant rumors about weapons and further fights following Tuesday’s brawl near Marcotte Park, in which police arrested two men, neither of whom was a Lewiston High School student.

“It’s completely consumed our day,” said Levesque.

Lewiston police patrolled the area around the high school after school let out Wednesday afternoon. There were no fights.

“Everything was very peaceful and smooth,” said the school system’s Somali community liaison, Mohammed Abdi. He expected similar patrols to continue through the week.

As scheduled, Lewiston High School students will spend this week talking about Sept. 11, its aftermath and effect on Americans’ attitudes toward Muslims and immigrants. No special assemblies or events were planned to address Tuesday’s incident.

According to O’Neill, the confrontation started when a teenager who did not attend Lewiston High School followed a Somali student into the school’s lobby and taunted him. O’Neill said he interceded as the argument became physical and the Somali boy tried to restrain the other teen.

As is school policy, O’Neill suspended the Somali student for three days for his part in the fight. He told the other teenager to leave school property or he would be arrested.

According to police, the high school fight generated a large brawl at 2 p.m. near Marcotte Park. That one involved more than four dozen people.

Levesque said the high school has worked hard to combat rumors and to ease racial tensions there since Somali immigrants began moving into the city a year-and-a-half ago. But friction within the community has begun to cause renewed tension within the school.

While Levesque couldn’t predict whether such friction would lead to more battles at or around Lewiston High School, he hoped to see community leaders identify the issues causing the most contention and come up with resolutions soon.

“I think probably we need to look at this from a community perspective,” he said.

[FITZ]

The whole immigration system should be revamped immediately. Legal immigration can be worse than illegal immigration, refugees are often just scams, many have no need to come here and if they're coming only to end up on welfare then we don't need them. If they can't speak English and make it on their own here by working then they're better off in their homelands. Legal status is given out far too easily and to many of the wrong people and no immigrant should be on any kind of federal aid.

[FITZ]

given the prickly state of their relations with African-Americans and a desire to protect their children from assimilating too quickly...

Sounds like they're practicing quite a bit of racism themselves.....and if they're mooching off the taxpayers they have no right at all feeling superior to any kind of American.

[Mainiac]

Ok, I'm from Maine,and I'll tell you why they are coming here.

It's a profit center for Diocese Catholic Human Resources, a/k/a Catholic Charities. They make HUGE bucks providing federally funded resettlement "services"and medicaid funded case management, mental health, and of course translator services.

This is no joke, I'm on the "inside". You would not believe how profitable it is for these "non-profit" agencies to bring these skinnies in here.

I deal directly with many of these agencies.

This is VERY DIFFERENT from the "old" days, where immigrants struggle to get here, work hard and became Americans.

These "immigrants" despise us, are belligerent and arrogant. They having nothing but disdain for our way of life (they even get "offended" that we need to knwo there birthday, cause they dont recognize our view of time). They barge into doctors offices and scream racism when they cant butt ahead of everyone else.

They are disgusting humans and do not belong here, and will never assimilate. They are nothing but parasites.

[sbhjr]

Please: NO profanity, NO personal attacks, NO racism or violence in posts.

You need to learn the difference betweeen Immigrant and Refugee: These are refugees, who have been persecuted, tortured, or otherwise deprived of their humanity in Somalia. To suggest that they return is ignorant, unrealistic, and very cruel, and unpatriotic. Our (current) government has accepted them as part of our role and reponsibility in world society to assist persons who are victimized in this way, and have no other recourse.

For the most part refugees do not go or stay on welfare; they get jobs and pay taxes and become members of their new communities; and, eventually, American citizens.

This is the American way.

[sbhjr]

p.s. This is a good article on the topic

http://www.centralmaine.com/news/stories/020908somalis_.shtml

[hellinahandcart]

Ahh...nothing like a newbie who ressurects an old article, directs me to another one I've seen at least three times, and dispenses a pious lecture all on his very first day...

[gueroloco]

When your heart stops bleeding, YOU need to learn the difference between a productive citizen and a parasite. See post #123. These are "refugees" from Georgia's welfare rolls. They found more freebies in Lewiston- that's why they're up there. The climate certainly didn't draw them. I suppose you're of the opinion that their being on the public dole doesn't deprive them of their humanity, though. I submit that my suggestion that they return to their country is learned,realistic, and compassionate. My military service speaks volumes about my patriotism, by the way. I'm curious, in what branch of the military did you serve ? America has changed, by the way. We have finite resources and are overtaxed enough by shouldering the burden for a lot of our own citizens. We owe the Somali leeches nothing.

THIS is the American way.

[sbhjr]

" ... I suppose you're of the opinion that their being on the public dole doesn't deprive them of their humanity, though. I submit that my suggestion that they return to their country is learned, realistic, and compassionate. "

[ Oh, yes: much worse to be on welfare (and perhaps only for a while) than to be persecuted, terrorized, and possibly tortured or murdered. I certainly admire your "compassion" .... ]

"America has changed, by the way."

[ apparently we have got a lot meaner ... ]

[sbhjr]

" ... refugees are often just scams, many have no need to come here ... "

[ you have data for this of course? ]

" ... and if they're coming only to end up on welfare then we don't need them. "

[ and we don't 'NEED' the homeless, the unemployed, the sick, the handicapped, the mentally ill or disabled, the poor; but we take care of them, hopefully in a way that preserves or restores dignity and humanity. We don't NEED bigots either, but we defend to the death their right to speak as they do.]

"If they can't speak English and make it on their own here by working then they're better off [?!] in their homelands."

[ ( As I said to 'gueroloco'): Oh, yes: much worse to be on welfare (and perhaps only for a while) than to be persecuted, terrorized, and possibly tortured or murdered .... (P.S. They NO LONGER HAVE a homeland!) ]

[sbhjr]

[I'm not going back through all previous posts cataloguing every article ever referenced in order not to offend one person - if you've seen it before you don't really have to read it again. And, new people are logging on all the time; the information was for their benefit as well, not just you; sorry.]

"nothing like a newbie who ressurects ..., directs ..., and dispenses ... all on his very first day"

[Thanks, I feel proud]

[FITZ]

Oh, yes: much worse to be on welfare

Our Constitution never turned our government into a giant charity. There is no right of any refugee to my money unless I choose to give it to them. There is another option for these so called persecuted people ---fix up their countries, the USA and a couple other countries can't be the only places in the world for people to live. Our Founding Fathers did it, instead of escaping tyranny and becoming welfare refugees in some other country, they fought and died to become free.

[FITZ]

Instead of the American "Give me liberty or give me death", the cry today has become "Give me welfare in the USA".

[FITZ]

Our (current) government has accepted them as part of our role and reponsibility in world society to assist persons who are victimized in this way, and have no other recourse.

That's just Socialism and it doesn't work well. The Soviet Union collapsed under Socialism and we will also. One third of the earlier European immigrants to the USA returned home within a short time because they were unable to make it here ---but that was pre-welfare.

[Doctor Stochastic]

It was that way in the early fifties too.

[Burn24]

Wow, is that true about Catholic Charities?? I thought they were strictly domestic.

[sbhjr]

I'm not advocating the government support everybody; just this particular disenfrachised population, and for a limited time, as we already do for certain other groups.

Also, many earlier immigrants came voluntarily, and to seek a better life, economic or otherwise. Many were free to return and many did, if they were not successful or happy here. Most refugees do not have that choice, they cannot return.

[redhead]

"There is a LOT we are not hearing in this story. I read about the Somali invasion of Lewiston a few days ago."

there are a couple hundred Somalis in Faribault, MN. What they are doing there, I have no idea. I have never seen one of them WORKING anywhere. But their veiled women are always in the grocery stores. There is a real conflict between them and the Mexicans, who have lived in Faribault for many years and are very Americanized. To call it "tense" would probably be about right.

[csvset]

Ooops. Wrong group of Somalians.

[hellinahandcart]

Ever hear the phrase "Timing is everything?"

You need to work on that.

Bye.

[redhead]

"These Somalis are refugees."

I'm confused. If the Somali MUSLIMS are killing and torturing and enslaving Somali Christians, how come it's the Somali MUSLIMS who are refugees? Did I miss a chapter somewhere?