Tag: Lewiston Maine

Lewiston, ME: Somali teen released to ‘residential facility’ over District Attorney objections

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Back in April and May there were several arson fires in Lewiston, ME.   A Somali boy is charged in one of those fires (see our earlier posts, here and here), now that boy is being released from a juvenile detention facility, but the District Attorney, earlier this week objected to the judge’s decision citing the boys prior criminal record.

One of Lewiston’s several arson fires that occurred within a week. Photo Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

Here is the latest from earlier this week from the Lewiston Sun Journal (Hat tip: Michael):

LEWISTON — A judge on Wednesday ordered the release of a 13-year-old boy charged with four counts of arson in a May 3 fire that burned four downtown apartment buildings and left nearly 100 people homeless.

Abdi Ibrahim of Lewiston was in 8th District Court for a juvenile detention hearing. Because he is charged with felonies, his court proceedings are held in public.

His attorney, Richard Charest, said a residential facility that offers programs that address the teen’s problems is the least restrictive setting for him, something required by the state’s juvenile code.

Judge Rick Lawrence agreed, provided a safety plan is in place that will protect Ibrahim as well as the community.

Assistant District Attorney Melanie Portas opposed the placement, telling Lawrence that Ibrahim posed a risk to the community if released from a lockdown facility such as Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland, where the teen has been held since he was charged.

Abdi was already in trouble with the law at 9-years old***

Portas cited Ibrahim’s criminal record, which dates back to when he was 9 years old. Charges include theft, robbery, burglary and assault. In addition to the arson fires, he has been charged with criminal mischief and criminal threatening, Portas said.

She said the seriousness of the new charges, coupled with the manner in which fire investigators believe the fires were set — using gasoline on materials in a Pierce Street garage and igniting them with a lighter — was of particular concern to prosecutors.

A residential setting “cannot ensure that (Ibrahim) will not set another fire,” she told the judge.

Portas referenced a recent psychological evaluation that concluded Ibrahim suffered from poor impulse control, displayed a “significant amount of immaturity” and “under appreciates” the effect of his actions on others by showing a lack of remorse.

Photo:  The photo is from one of the Lewiston fires, but the article has this informative item.  Abdi’s parents both live in Lewiston, but not together.  It makes me wonder if Dad has more than one wife, a common practice in Somalia that has been brought to America.

Ibrahim lives with his mother, Marian Ibrahim, according to court papers. His father, Yussef Abdi, lives at a separate address in Lewiston.

An American kid is charged in another of the fires.

***It just occurred to me—I wonder if Abdi was among the Somali boys back in 2009 who were attacking people (for the “thrill”) on the streets of multicultural Lewiston, here.

For new readers, our complete Lewiston archive is here. Be sure to see this 2009 post about how Somalis came to be in Lewiston in the first place, it is still one of our most widely read posts.

Federal officials visit refugee-overloaded Lewiston, ME: we feel your pain, but isn’t much we can do

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

This is a bit of old news from January that I just came across today.  I hadn’t seen it, so I figured you might not have either.

Laurence Bartlett (DOS) and Eskinder Negash (ORR) listen to complaints in Lewiston, ME. Photo: Scott Taylor Sun Journal

Seems that head honchos from the US State Department and the Office of Refugee Resettlement traveled to Maine (and elsewhere) to calm the locals.

But, how many times have we been told that everything is copacetic in Somali-overloaded Lewiston?  If everything was just peachy these two wouldn’t have bothered to go there in the first place.

From the Lewiston Sun Journal:

LEWISTON — Federal immigration and refugee resettlement policies will continue to be felt by local communities, federal officials told a roomful of city and social agency representatives Wednesday.

Eskinder Negash, director of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement, and Larry Bartlett, director of the Office of Refugee Admissions, discussed immigration policies at Lewiston City Hall.

It was part of a two-day trip through Maine, one of many similar meetings held around the country* throughout the year. A similar meeting was held Tuesday in Portland.

Desired by whom?

Immigration policy is shaped by two factors: a desire to help less fortunate people and fiscal realities at home.

The humanitarian industrial complex wants more refugees, but it’s up to local folks to pay for it and tolerate the cultural upheaval!  That is not exactly the words used, but that is what they are saying!  To me, the “humanitarians” are like little children who want more stuff regardless if Mommy and Daddy have the money to pay for it.

When the “humanitarians” say jump, the feds ask, “how high?”

“There is no greater responsibility than that (which) we get from community leaders to make sure refugees get the support they deserve,” Bartlett said. “But there are many pressures from the humanitarian side of our country to grow this program.”

Too bad that some cities “find themselves” in a tough place!  We are willing to listen but that’s about all we can do!

Cities such as Lewiston find themselves in a tough place with little federal support when refugees begin calling it home.

“In some ways, we have a challenging program and you feel the effects on a community level, and we have to thank you for that,” Bartlett said. “We don’t have all the answers and that’s why we have these discussions to hear what the problems are.”

For local officials, the biggest problem is a lack of federal aid for education, English language and other resettlement programs.

Heck, the State Department doesn’t have money to give to communities (only to our contractors!), and it’s up to the state to decide how much money to send to struggling overloaded towns.  Sun Journal story continued:

Bartlett said his office, part of the State Department, has no programs designed to help at the local level. Negash, whose office is part of the federal Health and Human Services agency, said there is federal help, but it’s limited.

“The money goes to the state,” Negash said. “The money always goes to the state, and the state has all the discretion it needs to use the money.”

Bartlett:  We just carry out the will of Congress.  We feel your pain, but not much we can do about it.  Criticize us, but ain’t nothing gonna change!

Those funding and policy priorities are decided by Congress, the officials said.

“This is the way this country has designed this program to work,” Bartlett said. “We know it works, but it’s not perfect and we accept criticism willingly.”

Readers, if you live in overloaded refugee resettlement hotspots, you must complain to your Member of Congress and US Senators.  And, don’t be afraid of someone calling you a racist! This is one more of a long list of state’s rights issues abused by Washington.

* By the way, not long ago we reported on the ‘we-feel-your-pain roadshow’ to Ft. Wayne, Indiana.

For new readers, click here for our extensive archive on Lewiston, ME.  Be sure to see this post on Maine as a welfare magnet and the role of Catholic Charities in bringing Somalis to Maine in the first place.

For our Maine readers, your Senators Angus King and Susan Collins want MORE refugees and immigrants.  They both voted for S.744, the amnesty bill.

(New film) Return of the Primitive: Refugee Resettlement in America

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

That’s the title of an 18 minute documentary from ‘Indomitable realist’ you should watch.  I think it’s just out today.   Hat tip: Brad

It features Somalis in Minnesota, Lewiston, ME, and Shelbyville, TN.  It includes one segment on the Lost Boys of Sudan. I didn’t know Glenn Beck talked about the State Department populating Rep. Michele Bachmann’s district with Somalis (something we have written about here on several occasions).

Click here to watch.  Then be sure to check out the comments!

More on the Lewiston Maine arson fires, one boy named, Somali boy not named

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Update May 11th:  Two white thugs arrested in third fire, thanks to a reader, here.

I didn’t read all the stories involving the arson fires in Lewiston, the Little Mogadishu of the Northeast, and to complicate matters there has been a third fire earlier this week in another apartment building that has the city rattled, here.  So, perhaps one of the other stories gives more details on the boys arrested.

Firefighters battle third blaze in a week in Lewiston, ME. AP Photo / The Lewiston Sun-Journal

Here is one report that says it was an error to have named the first 12-year-old boy arrested, so they don’t name the second.  This is an update of my previous post on the fires.

From The Morning Sentinel:

LEWISTON — The parents of a 12-year-old Lewiston boy accused of setting fire on April 29 to the Blake Street apartment building where they lived were nearly $6,700 behind in rent and were about to be evicted, according to Lewiston District Court records.

Jessica Reilly, the mother of Brody Covey, who is accused of starting the April 29 fire intentionally, had been served papers on April 26 on behalf of her boyfriend, Charles Epps, seeking to evict them from 109 Blake St., Apartment 1, the Portland attorney who filed the complaint against, David Sherman Jr., said on Monday.

The boy’s aunt, Ami Reilly, of Lewiston, said Monday at the courthouse that Brody is “not a bad kid” and would not start a fire for no reason, and that she believes “he was put up to it.”

[….]

Covey was identified last week by the District Court criminal clerks office. Authorities have declined to name the second boy after apparently releasing Covey’s name in error. Family members of the second boy also appeared in court Monday. They declined to comment, speaking through a Somali translator assigned to them by the court.

Read it all.

Interpreters—a hidden cost to refugee resettlement cities.

This reminds me, it’s something I haven’t written about in years.  Federal law requires that “welcoming” (not welcoming as well!) cities/counties must provide translation services for refugees for health department matters and legal issues among others.  You can imagine the cost to some areas of the country which have hosted a potpourri of refugees from diverse countries, many with obscure languages.  I remember reading that the court system in Montgomery County, Maryland spent a $million a year on interpreters.

BTW, Is this one of those “micro-aggressions” that we were told about here in January that could pop up in Lewiston as a result of community destabilization?  We have an extensive archive on Lewiston, visit it here.

Lewiston, ME: Arson fires leave Somalis homeless

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment
This fire occurred last Monday. Photo: Sun-Journal, Christopher Williams

As if Lewiston doesn’t have enough problems, now they have 12-year-old arsonists!   See our archives on the changed city*, here.

Here is the latest from the Associated Press at the San Francisco Chronicle:

LEWISTON, Maine (AP) — Another 12-year-old boy has been arrested on arson charges in a second major fire in Lewiston in less than a week, and the fires together left 180 people homeless, authorities said Saturday.

The two fires were just blocks apart.

The boy, whose name was not released, was arrested on four counts of arson for the late Friday fire that destroyed three apartment buildings and left 105 people homeless, state and local authorities said in a news release.

About 20 families, many of them Somali immigrants, were displaced by the fire, and many spent the night at Lewiston High School, the Sun Journal of Lewiston reported. One minor injury was reported.

A different 12-year-old boy was charged Thursday with setting a Monday fire that destroyed four apartment buildings and left 75 people homeless. The boy, whose name also was not released, is to be arraigned Monday.

Here is a news clip that tells more of the story.  There should be additional news coming today.  If you see it before I do, let me know!

* See our post yesterday on another ‘changed’ American town.