Tag: Minneapolis Somalis

Best analysis yet of Somali apartment explosion at Gates of Vienna

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment
Minneapolis: Somali neighbors listen to fire chief John Fruetel’s explanation of what he thinks happened. Pioneer Press: Jean Pieri

Update January 6th:  Yesterday GOV published a new piece (Part I) analyzing the crime scene, here. Very cool!

Blogger Baron Bodissey at Gates of Vienna has been spending a lot of time analyzing the public story about the New Years Day explosion and fire in the “Little Mogadishu” neighborhood of Minneapolis and raises more questions then we have answers for.  Why was the building so hastily demolished?  Who were the men in the second floor apartment where the explosion originated?  One question that jumped out at me originally too was why was the now believed to be deceased Mrimri Farah, a man over military age, doing military work for the US in Iraq?  Why was the fire chief running to the media right away and speculating about a natural gas leak?  More!

Read it all by clicking here.  (Hat tip: Deb)

Note that Bodissey has suggested you should contact members of the House Homeland Security Committee (he lists members who might listen) to urge an investigation.

By the way, Rep. Peter King of New York has held hearings on radicalization centered on this very same community in Minneapolis (here in 2011).  This is the same neighborhood from which a still undetermined number of Somali youths returned to Somalia for Jihad training beginning in around 2007-2008, here.

For readers new to the explosion story, one earlier post here at RRW is here, follow links to earlier and subsequent posts.

Photo is from this earlier Pioneer Press report.

Minneapolis Somali apartment explosion: a blogger unravels some of the reports

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Readers, if you have been following the coverage of the deadly explosion and fire that ripped through a Somali apartment building and grocery store on New Year’s Day, you are not alone.  A Minnesota follower of RRW has alerted us to a blog that has gone one step further and contacted some of those quoted or misquoted by the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

For new readers looking for background, our most recent post is here with links to previous posts.

Now, check out the blog Lee Stranahan (Untangling the facts….) which begins with this:

I’ve been covering the story of the explosion and fire that took place in the Cedar-Riveraide neighborhood on Minneapolis, Minnesota on New Year’s Day. There’s been a fair but [bit] of misinformation and confusion. This post is designed to clear up some of that with unfiltered facts from spokespeople for the gas company CenterPoint and the Minneapolis Police Department.

Read it all!

Come back tomorrow because surely there will be another installment of this puzzling case.

More on Minneapolis explosion in Somali apartment building

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment
Firefighters search frozen ruble in Cedar-Riverside neighborhood. Where is Farah? Photo: Star Tribune

Update January 5th:  Must-read post at Gates of Vienna. Lots of questions!  AP reports a third person has died.

Update January 4th:  There are a few more nuggets of information in the latest from the Star Tribune, here.   Could be weeks before the cause of the blast is determined.  Blogger Lee Stranahan has some answers and more questions.

Update:  Second body found an hour or so ago, assumed to be Farah, here.

The story gets stranger and stranger!

Sheesh, I thought I was done with this topic this morning, but reader ‘pungentpeppers’ commented that there is another version of the Star Tribune explosion story that has this paragraph in it regarding the supposedly unaccounted-for man (in red):

“Family members identified the two people not accounted for as Mrimri Farah, said to be about 60 years old, and Ahmad Ali, 57, who shared an apartment. ………

Farah previously served in the U.S. Army and at one point was stationed in Iraq, said Shareef Hassan, a friend. Farah had gone to live in Somalia and came back to live in Minneapolis a couple of months ago.”

The version of the story I posted this morning (which did not have this paragraph) was from 6:51 p.m. yesterday and the version ‘pungentpeppers’ found was from 9:31 p.m. also last night.

Where is Farah?

Minneapolis: Explosion and fire destroys Somali apartments/business, many injured

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment
Fire fighters battle blaze as below zero temperatures make their work difficult.

Update January 3:  Body found, gas leak suspected, Rep. Ellison stops by the scene, here.  See also Gates of Vienna: “the whole business is fishy.”  The story takes a strange twist, here.

Update January 2:  More here about ‘landmark’ mosque next door.  No gas leaks reported or inspection issues so no explanation for the explosion yet, at FoxNews.

There may already be much more news on this story, but just coming to the computer now after a pleasant New Years Day (away from the computer!), I see Drudge has posted this CNN story about what they know so far:

(CNN) — An explosion and fire at a three-story apartment building in Minneapolis Wednesday left at least 14 people hospitalized, six critically, fire officials said. Three residents were believed to be missing and could still be inside.

Freezing weather conspired with heavy flames to hamper efforts to rescue victims and fight the fire, Minneapolis Fire Chief John Fruetel said.

Some horrified residents may have fallen or jumped from the burning building, which also housed a grocery store that served as a gathering place for the area’s growing Somali community.

“This is a community that’s been through a lot,” outgoing Mayor R.T. Rybak said. “People who come to live in this part of our city often have gone through horrendous things. They come here for peace and for safety.”

An explosion was reported about 8:15 a.m., and the building was soon engulfed in flames, officials said.

[….]

Farah Ahmed, a relative of the owner of the grocery store, said the small business was a popular gathering place.

“It was a gathering center,” he said. “We started from scratch and we will make it again.”

A mosque next door to the building appeared to escape damage.

If anyone sees the news tomorrow about what caused the blast, please send it our way.

For new readers, see one of our most-read posts at RRW—Why so many Somalis in Minneapolis?

Somali wins Minneapolis city council seat

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

From PostBulletin.com:

MINNEAPOLIS — Voters in Minneapolis have sent a Somali-American to their city council for the first time, a sign of the immigrant community’s growing strength in the city.

Rep. Keith Ellison (right) backed Abdi Warsame for the Minneapolis city council. No surprise there!

Abdi Warsame took 64 percent of the vote in Tuesday’s election, well ahead of incumbent Robert Lilligren.

Both the Star Tribune and Minnesota Public Radio reported that Warsame will become the highest-ranking elected Somali-American in the U.S. when he takes office.

Warsame, 35, left Somalia as a child and spent much of his life in England. He moved to Minneapolis in 2006 and heads a tenant association in a Minneapolis high-rise that is home to some 4,000 East Africans, Minnesota Public Radio reported.

It is very difficult to immigrate to the US from the UK (ask any white Englishman), so I wonder how he got here, through what legal immigration channel? Is he now a US citizen?

We’ve written about Warsame’s campaign previously here and here.

Photo is from this story.