Man attacks woman with hatchet in Fargo, ND

04/29/2014 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Don’t you love it, it is always just “a man” when the news media doesn’t want to say “immigrant” or “refugee” and one is left reading the story to try to figure out who the man might be, what brought him to North Dakota, and what his motive might have been for taking a hatchet to a neighbor (or what his mental illness is).

Diversity is strength alert!

This man’s name is Kokouvi Mawuena Afidegnon and his photo is at right. Is he a refugee? Fargo is a resettlement site for Lutheran Social Services of North Dakota and they would know if he is a refugee or another legal immigrant (TPS? Diversity visa lottery winner? Student visa?). Or, is he an illegal alien? Couldn’t a reporter simply call the Lutheran contractor to find out if he is one of theirs?

From inforum.com (Hat tip: ‘pungentpeppers’):

WEST FARGO – A West Fargo man was arrested and charged with aggravated assault and reckless endangerment after police say he attacked a neighbor with a hatchet late Friday afternoon.

West Fargo police arrested Kokouvi Mawuena Afidegnon after they were called to the scene in the 200 block of Eighth Avenue West around 5:30 p.m.

A woman fled to neighboring residence after the reported attack by the time officers arrived, a police news release said. Afidegnon was taken into custody without incident at his residence.

Police say the woman was walking to her vehicle when she was attacked by Afidegnon. She was able to escape by running to a nearby residence where Afidegnon threw the hatchet through a front window, police said.

The female was transported to Essentia Hospital by F-M Ambulance. The condition of the female is unknown.

Learn more about what is happening in your state with refugees!

As I said in a post about refugee resettlement in New Jersey over the weekend, here is a list of all the state refugee coordinators and it’s a good place to start your research on what is happening in your state with refugee “placement.”

Call or e-mail your state coordinators and politely ask: who (from what country) is being resettled in your state, how many have been resettled in recent years, find out who the resettlement contractors are and ask for the state plan. State coordinators are supposed to submit a plan to the Office of Refugee Resettlement every couple of years (I have my doubts though about whether they do it!).

And, I’ll mention this in most posts for the next few weeks: You have an opportunity to comment to the US State Department which is asking for input on the size and scope of the refugee program for fiscal year 2015.

As for Kokouvi Mawuena Afidegnon, if anyone finds out if he is a refugee or other legal immigrant, let us know!

Reader’s comment: Woeful week for interpretation

04/19/2014 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Regular reader and researcher par excellence, ‘pungentpeppers,’ has put together some samples of the growing problems with interpretation services increasingly needed as immigrants from around the world require court interpreters (something we have been noting a lot lately).

Woeful week for interpretation

INTERPRETER WOES aplenty this past week: wrongful interpretation suit; mistrial called because a foreign-language-speaking juror was on a case; no interpreters available to work for a terrorist; and an interpreter goes berserk.

The City of Portland (Oregon) is named as a defendant in a $3 million wrongful death-by-misinterpretation lawsuit. The Spanish-speaking husband of Elidiana Valdez-Lemus called 9-1-1 for help after his wife could not breath. His call was referred to a professional interpreter who may have mixed up the address “2601 111th Avenue” with “2600 101st Avenue”. Also named in the suit are Language Line Translation Solutions, Lingo Systems, Language Line Service, AT&T Corp. and the unknown name of the company that provided the Spanish-language interpreter. ….. Sue and put them all out of business! (http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2014/04/spanish_interpreter_botched_9-.html)

Mistrial declared in first degree murder case against Kevyphonh Sounyaphong

In Fort Smith, Arkansas, a judge declared a mistrial in a murder case because a juror understood Vietnamese, a language spoken by one of the witnesses. Kevyphonh Sounyaphong was on trial for the strangulation death of Sakounsouk Vilayhong. An Vietnamese interpreter was brought to translate the testimony of a witness for the defense. One of the jurors disagreed with the interpretation and may have said something that was tantamount to introducing new evidence to the case. ….. Moral: never put anyone on the jury who understands any of the foreign languages that may be heard in the courtroom. Interpretation is just one person’s “interpretation” of what another person said, and there are often disagreements. (http://www.4029tv.com/news/mistrial-in-fort-smith-trial-over-womans-death/25536964)

Maybe nobody wants to work for a terrorist? Bernard Kleinman, the attorney for Libyan Al-Qaeda suspect, Anas al-Libi (real name Nazih Abdul Hamed al-Raghie), is complaining that he cannot find an Arabic interpreter in North Carolina. …. You can’t force people to work for a terrorist if they don’t want to. (http://news.yahoo.com/libyan-qaeda-suspect-deprived-rights-us-jail-213417624.html)

And finally from Ireland the story of the Interpreter Gone Berserk. Damaris Dickenson, a Kenyan interpreter, assaulted a 20-month-old boy by spitting on him after she flew into a rage because the toddler was kicking the back of her seat while traveling on a bus. Damaris also spit on the boy’s father, who is from China. Judge Ann Watkin stated that Damaris had “lied through her teeth” when she falsely accused the bus passengers of ganging up on her and abusing her racially. She was given a suspended sentence. ….. Since she made up the racial abuse story, maybe she makes up stories when she interprets, too? (http://www.herald.ie/news/courts/woman-who-spat-in-babys-face-on-bus-is-spared-jail-30188114.html)

Note to “welcoming” communities: It is federal law in America that your local jurisdiction provide “qualified” court interpreters (at public expense) for immigrants in court for whatever reason.

El Cajon: Iraqi “hate crime” hoaxer is guilty in murder of wife

04/18/2014 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

The courtroom erupted in chaos when the guilty verdict was read in a San Diego courtroom yesterday.

Iraqi refugee wants help from “overseas” to get him out of American prison. http://www.njnewsday.com/national/25437-iraqi-kassim-alhimidi-found-guilty-of-killing-wife-and-making-it-look-like-hate-crime.html

Kassim Al-Himidi was found guilty in the bludgeoning death of his wife who had asked for a divorce (she didn’t die right away, but lingered for three days).

Besides shouting that he was innocent, Al-Himidi demanded that someone get him “international help” to pursue the hate crime allegation and to get him someone “overseas” to get him out of jail.

Update April 24th: Son speaks out about his own outburst in courtroom, here.

From NBC7 San Diego (be sure to watch the video!):

A broken family’s screams erupted in a San Diego courtroom after a guilty verdict was announced in the trial of an Iraqi immigrant who killed his wife.

As the defendant cried out in Arabic “not guilty,” his mother-in-law flailed her arms, screaming “you killed my daughter,” while his two teenage sons chose opposing sides.

Jurors found Kassim Al-Himidi, 49, guilty in the death of his wife Shaima Alawadi — a bloody, brutal beating once considered a hate crime that was, in the end, an act of domestic violence.

I guess these Iraqi’s haven’t quite assimilated (or is it integrated?) enough to accept that they live in America and their crimes are judged in an American justice system.

“This is bulls—!” This is f—ing bulls—!” the son yelled. “My dad is innocent. He was tried unfairly.”

Al-Himidi smirked, crossed his arms, shook his head, wagged his finger and began praying as the jury was polled one by one. At one point, he put his head on the table in front of him. Then, he too began yelling.

According to a translator, Al-Himidi screamed out in Arabic, “God knows I’m not the killer. I’m not the killer! I’m innocent. Not guilty.”

As deputies rushed to place handcuffs on Al-Himidi, he continued to yell, telling his family to seek international help on this case and have investigators look at it as a hate crime. He said to get him help from overseas to get him out of jail, the translator said.

By the way, the “hate crime” hoax had frightened Muslims in the El Cajon area into thinking there was a raving Islamophobe on the loose killing Muslims in their kitchens. CAIR and the Southern Poverty Law Center were right in the forefront helping fan the flames.

Brenda Walker tells us about the NY Times “hate crime” coverage which I didn’t know about. Gee, do you think the NYT will have an update story now?

The New York Times reported at the time, March 2012, Iraqi Immigrants in California Town Fear a Hate Crime in a Woman’s Killing and included an emotional photo of the distraught husband Kassim Alhimidi weeping over his wife’s body, clutching her feet.

Our first coverage of the fishy tale is here.

By the way, note to “welcoming” San Diego: California and county taxpayers had to foot the bill for this trial (translator alone probably cost a bundle!), why not submit the bill to the US State Department for repayment!

I’m beginning to lose track of how many major criminal trials involving refugees that we have posted in recent months—the Iraqis are especially busy in court.

Punjabis shipped to US in containers, Punjabis in detention in Texas, Punjabis arrested in CA

04/17/2014 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

The Punjabis come from Eastern Pakistan or Northern India and they are coming to the US illegally with some seeking asylum in ever-larger numbers. The primary religions of Punjabis are Islam, Hinduism and Sikhism. Most of those in our post today appear to be Sikhs. Reader ‘pungentpeppers’ has come across these important stories over the last few days.

First, this one is from The Tribune in India. I’m sure when the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service hears this news they will want to take the “youths” home with them— not to their neighborhoods, but to yours!

Look at this route! They are clearly getting help in Russia, Turkey, Guatemala and Mexico!

The Tribune (India):

The well-oiled human trafficking network and business, involving the ferrying of hundreds or thousands of Punjabis to North America, is alive and kicking. Unscrupulous travel agents operating from the USA and New Delhi are minting money from these shady deals.

As many as 64 Punjabi youths [numbers vary, some reports say 40, this one 64 and yet another says 100—ed], who travelled across more than half the world in search of greener pastures, have been detained in El-Paso processing centre (jail) in Texas, USA.

Forty-two of them are on hunger strike against their prolonged detention and the jail authorities’ “inhuman” action of withdrawing communication and other facilities to them. The startling revelations made by some detainees there and their families in the Doaba region of Punjab has indicated that human smuggling to the USA by travel agents from India is going on unabated.

[….]

At times, youths (mostly from India and Pakistan) were concealed in containers — having little air or almost no food and water for days — for the purpose of shipping them to North America.

One account of the “youths” (believed to be young men in their twenties) has them coming through Cuba as well.

In that same story, we learn that the North American Punjabi Association has gone to their defense, but ICE says there are no hunger strikers among the “youths.”

And, as for this “greener pastures” comment it tells us these are economic migrants not legitimate asylum seekers. By the way, some think if they are granted asylum they can never go back “home,” but that was not the case with that charming Tsarnaev family (of Boston bombing fame)—we know they traveled back and forth. And, we have had many reports of Somali ‘refugees’ traveling back to Somalia (even though they claimed they needed protection from persecution).

What about persecuted Americans?

Punjabi youths driving a Mercedes arrested. One charge against them is “elder abuse.”

California: Punjabi “youths” arrested for ATM robbery of former Marine

From the San Jose Mercury News:

FREMONT — Two men and a teenager were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of robbing a retired U.S. Marine at a bank ATM last week, authorities said.

Prabhleen Singh, Manjot Dhillon, and a 17-year-old boy were arrested in connection to the April 9 armed robbery in Fremont, police said. The arrest came hours after authorities released surveillance photos of the suspects.

Police say the 67-year-old was using the ATM at a Fremont Bank of America, located at 46650 Mohave Drive, at 1:05 a.m. when a Mercedes car pulled up. Singh, 22, of Fremont, allegedly got out of the car, pointed a gun at the victim and demanded his wallet. The former U.S. Marine threw his wallet to Singh, authorities said.

Dhillon, 24, of Union City, allegedly drove the getaway car. Authorities did not release the 17-year-old’s name because he is a minor.

Will the North American Punjabi Association be coming to their defense?

Looks like one more ethnic group adding diversity to our cities and towns that we need to keep an eye on.

Oregon: Ho hum! Another convenience store, another Burmese criminal….

04/12/2014 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

….and further confirmation that we are admitting Burmese Muslims to the US (and dumb ones to boot!).

In our previous post we reported Burmese in Michigan ripping off the food stamp program, a few days ago it was a Burmese murder in Pennsylvania, and now it’s a murder-for-hire plot in Oregon in the busy (and growing***) Burmese “community” of America.

Diversity is strength alert! Bringing their culture to a town near you!

From Oregon Live (Hat tip: ‘pungentpeppers’):

Mohdsidek Habibullah claimed the plot to kill his 45-year-old business partner — who ran a Southeast Portland convenience store with him — was all a big joke.

That was despite secretly acquired audio recordings of Habibullah talking about wanting to use a .357 handgun to shoot business partner Mohammed Absar in the head, a part of the body he thought would make less of a bloody mess.

And that was despite the recently purchased black shirt, pants, gloves and mask police found in the trunk of his car. Habibullah claimed they were gardening clothes.

And Habibullah — a 50-year-old immigrant from Burma — continued to proclaim his innocence despite the $1,100 prosecutors say he handed over to a known criminal to buy him a gun and a car that would be used to dispose of the body. Prosecutors say that when the criminal showed up with the car and it was red, he asked him to spray-paint it black to make it less conspicuious.

After two days of trial, Multnomah County Circuit Judge Jerry Hodson didn’t need a recess before finding Habibullah guilty Thursday of the attempted aggravated murder and attempted murder of Absar. The men had known each other for about 10 years, and Habibullah spent the bulk of the day running the Stop-N-Go Market off of Southeast 122nd Avenue while Absar would often spend a few hours at the end of each day closing it down.

Read the whole story to see why I say Habibullah is dumb—remind me why we are letting people like this into the US!

*** So how many Burmese have we settled in your cities in a little over a decade?

Here is one accounting of how many we have resettled over the last 12+ years from Burma (Myanmar) and camps in Thailand. They are still coming by the thousands!

*Burmese refugees resettled in the US since 2001: 97,713

*Chin Refugees resettled in the US since 2001: 30,453

*Karen Refugees resettled in the US since 2001: 57,962

*The rest ethnic groups from Burma in the US since 2001: 9297

This last number above would include Burmese Muslims/Rohingya

Click here for our extensive coverage of Burmese refugees in America. We have a whole category on Burmese Rohingya Muslims, here.