http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/profiles/ilhanomar
Allegations of threats, bullying, and paid agitators in the wake of Minneapolis Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party caucus earlier this month (see our original post on the blow-out here).
I warned you this was Somali day at RRW (see here, here, and here)!
From the MinnPost (hat tip: Michael). Emphasis below is mine:
The DFL caucus that ended in a brawl and sent a woman to the hospital earlier this month is at the center of allegations that threats and bullying were used to disrupt the political process and that some people were paid to attend the caucus.
Further, Minneapolis City Council Member Abdi Warsame’s involvement in a contentious state House race that prompted the caucus fight has swept up City Hall and fractured the East African political community.
MinnPost has learned that the day before the Cedar-Riverside caucus, Warsame told another council member, Andrew Johnson, that he should warn his aide to stay away from the caucus or there could be trouble for her.
Warsame is supporting longtime incumbent DFL Rep. Phyllis Kahn; Johnson’s aide, Somali activist Ilhan Omar, is widely believed to be supporting the challenger, fellow Somali Mohamud Noor, though she says she’s neutral in the race.
Omar did attend the caucus, and ended up in the hospital with a concussion.
Two caucuses were marred by violence!
The simmering divisions were on open display at two DFL precinct caucus meetings in Somali neighborhoods of Minneapolis. Both caucuses erupted in chaos and violence.
One caucus, in the Seward neighborhood, was able to finish its work. But the other caucus, in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, abruptly ended after Omar, Johnson’s aide who was allegedly warned not to attend, was injured during a fight and Minneapolis police shut down the scene.
No truer words could have been said!
“That’s not a good reason you should be beaten up … just [for] supporting somebody,” Abdi Mohamed, a Noor supporter who worked at the event, later said during an interview. “That’s un-American. That’s not why we came here. If we wanted violence, we could have stayed in Somalia. There’s plenty of violence every day.”
Officials in the city of Minneapolis human resources department are investigating possible workplace misconduct over actions that occurred in City Hall during the runup to the caucus. A city spokesman confirmed there is an open complaint against Warsame, but couldn’t provide additional details including whether the complaint and investigation are related.
The article goes on and on and on, read it all here.
For new readers: This 2011 post—Why so many Somalis in Minneapolis—is almost every day one of our top most-read posts. Thank the US State Department and its contractors—Lutheran Social Services, Catholic Charities and World Relief MN—and the generous welfare supplied by Minnesota taxpayers!