This is an incredible story coming to us today from the Sun Journal in Lewiston, ME, hat tip to Jane for sending it. It is so incredible I’m tempted to post the whole thing, but it’s important that readers follow the link back to the Sun Journal so that they get lots of readers (lots of readers could result in more good reporting!)
Before I give you the shocking story, you might want to revisit this post I wrote on November 18th about Minneapolis ‘boys in the hood’ and click on the youtube link and watch that video. I’m guessing that what is on the film is just like what is going on in Lewiston, although it sounds like the Lewiston ‘gangs’ are more destructive and are causing more injuries.
Here is how it begins:
LEWISTON — In the early evening on the first day of summer, a large group of Somali boys approached a woman on the corner of Ash and Pierce streets. According to police reports, they intimidated the woman and slapped her in the back of the head before scattering into the downtown.
Five days later, shortly after midnight, a man was accosted by a group of Somali boys outside the Big Apple on Main Street. Police reports say several members of the group punched the man and took money from him. They then fled in a car.
Later that night, a woman in her late 60s was beaten by a group of Somali boys and relieved of cash while walking in Kennedy Park.
Five nights later, another man was jumped by a group of similar description. He resisted the gang and was beaten badly. He required surgery.
Throughout the summer, similar reports have come into the Police Department. Witnesses and investigators say swarms of Somali boys, some as young as 8, others in their late teens, overwhelm solitary victims through sheer numbers.
“It’s not gang activity in the traditional sense,” Deputy Chief James Minkowsky said. “We’re not seeing the colors or the monikers, but it’s still a gang mentality.”
Often, these gang members carry sticks and rocks with which to intimidate their victims. There are often four or five of them, sometimes as many as a dozen. Typically, they threaten or beat their victims until they give up the goods: money, bicycles, cell phones, prescription drugs, or other items of value.
Then they scatter.
Read on, there are a lot of cases described right up to some in recent weeks.
Attacking unsuspecting victims just for the “thrill!”
Police say group robberies are almost unheard of in Lewiston. In the past, when multiple people have attacked a lone victim, two or three assailants were reported and the assault was typically prompted by intoxication or old rivalries.
Not so with the Somali attacks.
“We haven’t seen that it’s been fueled by alcohol or drugs,” Minkowsky said. He added that robbery appears to be a primary motivation among the Somali gangs. “But in some cases, they seem to do it for the thrill of it.”
Not considered a hate crime? Are the victims all white Mainers? The article doesn’t say.
Stephen Wessler, director of the Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence, said he was not aware of the Somali assaults in Lewiston. After hearing the nature of them, he said the attacks likely were not the type that involve his group. The motive appears to be robbery, rather than race.
Mr. Wessler, we just heard they were not all robberies—-they were just getting their “thrills” in some cases.
Nothing to compare it to? Deputy Chief Minkowsky check with the authorities in the Minneapolis area about their similar gangs (article I cited above).
While investigating the ambush-style attacks, police have little to compare them with, at least locally. A search of assaults dating back to spring revealed no incidents of a similar nature involving non-Somalis.
“This is unique,” Minkowsky said.
No kidding! And, how do these 8 year olds get away with running with 20 year olds on the street? Where are the school authorities? Probably too afraid that Mr. Wessler’s group will come after them if they make the Somalis follow the law and send their kids to school!
There have been a few arrests since the attacks began. Minkowsky said many of the suspects had dropped out of school. Their parents seemed to have no idea that their children had become part of a roving gang.
Seeing children as young as 8 running the streets with teens closing in on 20 is something police are not used to seeing. There is a lot about the attacks investigators have not seen before.
How many times have we heard that everything is just going great with the Somalis of Lewiston? Use our search function for the keyword ‘Lewiston’ and see what I mean!
For new readers :
The US State Department has admitted over 80,000 Somali refugees to the US in the last 25 years and then last year had to suspend family reunification because widespread immigration fraud was revealed through DNA testing. That specific program has not yet been reopened, but will be soon. Nevertheless, thousands of Somali Muslims continue to be resettled as I write this.