Tag: Somali refugees

Minnesota: Somali refugee gets 18 years for attempted murder

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Why such a stiff sentence for ‘attempted’ murder of one gang member by another?

From the Minneapolis Star Tribune last week (hat tip: ‘pungentpeppers’):

A St. Paul man was sentenced to 18 years in prison for what a Hennepin County prosecutor called a brazen and unprovoked shooting at a Minneapolis food store last year.

Zakaria Yusuf, 25, was convicted of attempted second-degree murder in June. His sentence was the maximum allowed under the state’s sentencing guidelines. Judge Daniel Moreno said Yusuf continues to be arrogant and to have a complete disregard for other people’s lives.

Judge Daniel Moreno: Yusuf is arrogant and has a complete disregard for human life.

According to the criminal complaint and testimony at the trial, the victim, who is a member of the Somali Outlawz Gang, was standing outside the store at 201 W. Lake St. on Sept. 22, talking with two of his friends. Yusuf, who was known to associate with the St. Pistol Boys gang in St. Paul and Somali gangs in the Cedar-Riverside area, walked up to the group, pulled a gun from his waistband and fired it at the victim, hitting him in the arm.

The victim ran into the store and Yusuf kept firing, hitting him several more times. The victim collapsed and Yusuf fired one more time from the doorway, with the bullet hitting the victim’s arm when he threw it across his head for protection. He was hospitalized at Hennepin County Medical Center and eventually was discharged.

However, the victim refused to cooperate with the prosecution and was placed under court-ordered electronic home monitoring to be sure he would show up at the trial.

Meanwhile in Canada, a research project sought to find out why so many Somali youths in Edmonton were turning up dead, but it looks like the same old excuses—not enough opportunity, struggling with the cultural differences, blah, blah, blah.

Click here for our archive on Somali gang violence in Edmonton.  There need to be serious consequences for immigrant criminal gangs, maybe this judge is doing exactly the right thing with this stiff sentence for the arrogant punk.

By the way, as usual I couldn’t find a readily identifiable photo of the convicted Minnesota man, but found this one of someone (a mean looking dude) with the same name from the same city who in 2010 was arrested for beating a “good Samaritan.”  Surely they didn’t let that Zakaria Yusuf out that quickly!  Or, did they?

And, just think! You raised these ‘youths’ on your dime!

For new readers, see ‘Why so many Somalis in Minneapolis?’  Thank Catholic Charities, Lutheran Social Service and World Relief MN.

Minneapolis/St.Paul: Catholic Church and school have become Muslim Somali Center

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

…..and the Lutherans are helping make it happen!

Maybe you’ve seen this news, it all happened earlier this summer.

Just last Friday, we gave you an update from Syracuse where another Catholic Church became a mosque and it makes me wonder—in how many cities is this happening?

Former St. Johns Catholic Church with crosses now removed.

From the Twin Cities Daily Planet:

On Saturday, July 12, I sat down to talk with Feisal Elmi, a representative of the Darul Uloom Islamic Center, the new owner of the buildings on East 5th Street previously occupied by St. John’s Catholic Church and school.

As a former Catholic, I didn’t know much about Islam, so Feisal began with the basics.

After the basics of Islam are discussed:

The center’s goal is to be a catalyst for the growth of small business in the community, and its leaders see East 7th Street as a prime location for Somali stores and restaurants, akin to the Karmel Mall in South Minneapolis.

Somali refugees are still arriving from that war-torn country. Feisal told me that the first wave of Somali immigrants to Minnesota were refugees, but tended to be from the wealthier strata of Somali society, while the most recent ones are in more desperate circumstances. A couple of generations ago, many of them were Ethiopians who fled to Somalia; now, they are seeking to escape the strife in Somalia. The former rectory at St. John’s is housing some of these new arrivals, and the center will provide assistance in finding them permanent housing***. As with many mass inflows of refugees, they are sponsored by religious agencies (in this case, Lutheran Social Services), and must qualify for refugee status under federal law.

[….]

An Islamic center is something new in our neighborhood, but it wasn’t all that long ago that the St. John’s campus was the religious home of newly-arrived Irish immigrants, and Sacred Heart Catholic Church that of the German Catholics. If there’s one constant about the East Side, it’s that it’s always changing.

***It sounds like this Somali Center has become a refugee subcontractor, if the reporter has this right.

Be sure to see this good blog post from a Catholic priest.

How did we get so many Somalis in Minnesota?—thank Catholic Charities, Lutheran Social Services and World Relief Minnesota (Evangelicals).  Read all about it at one of our most read posts (from 2011).

Springfield, Mass: Somali family of 12 gets new housing

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

And, I guess this is what Jeb Bush meant when he said immigrants are more fertile!  #ActOfLove?

 

The family has “grown exponentially!”

This is an update of earlier stories about one more case that caused the Mayor of Springfield to beg for a moratorium  on refugees resettled to the immigrant-overloaded city.

The landlord (of course) gets all the blame for the bugs and squalor authorities discovered earlier this year.

Here is the latest from MassLive (hat tip: ‘pungentpeppers’):

SPRINGFIELD – A large family of Somali refugees have a new home in the city after being driven from an apartment on Union Street in May by roaches, bedbugs, darkness and overcrowding. [Darkness because they didn’t pay the electric bill!—ed]


The family, which includes 12 children, was living at 515 Union St. when one of the older children called police in May because their electricity had been shut off for days. City housing officials were notified and found “heavy infestations” of roaches and bedbugs, plus noting the house was far too small to accommodate the family, which had grown exponentially since they moved in.

The issue also revived the controversy in the city over managing the influx of Somali refugees since 2003. Mayor Domenic J. Sarno has repeatedly called for a moratorium on new placements, arguing the families tax the city’s housing and school systems and don’t receive the proper long-term supports.

The city condemned the apartment; property manager David Sims was hauled into Springfield Housing Court and the family was temporarily relocated to a hotel shelter in Greenfield. However, lawyers for Sims and the family reached an agreement on Tuesday to move the family to a duplex at 185-187 Northampton Ave., which has been cleared by city inspectors, according to Lisa DeSousa, a lawyer for the city.

Family members Haji Mamo, his wife, Habiba Said and sister-in-law Sitey Said were in court Tuesday, and sorted out the agreement with the help of a Somali interpreter in a closed-door meeting.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/06/14/jeb-bush-u-s-economy-needs-immigrants-because-theyre-more-fertile/

The family also filed a demand for nearly $133,000 in monetary claims with the housing court. The complaint contends they should get abatements for rent, nearly $10,000 in “homeless damages,” and treble damages near $83,000 because of the conditions of the Union Street apartment.

Daniel D. Kelly, a lawyer for Sims, denies the allegations in the complaint including that Sims willfully ignored code violations and deliberately impaired the health and well-being of family members.

“It was a combination of problems that came about very quickly.

[….]

Sims said the family was much smaller when he originally rented the apartment to them.

We will be watching what happens with their new house!

Also, for more reading pleasure, we have been following Springfield for several years, click here, for that archive.

Endnote:  It’s interesting to watch the “pockets of resistance” grow in cities that were originally “welcoming” and now are becoming overloaded with needy migrants (legal and illegal).  It is a matter of numbers—a few migrants needing services kind of go under the radar until a tipping point is reached for the taxpayers. Cases like this one break into the news causing citizens to finally say, ‘whoa!’ what is going on here?  But, at that point it is usually too late for the community because the contractors are bringing in the relatives of the first seed population and anyone who complains is immediately labeled a xenophobic, racist, bigoted boob! and the complainers scurry for cover.  I don’t know how this will all end.

US Attorney Virginia: Somali refugee women charged with funding Somali Islamic terror group

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I was surprised to see this story.  I thought all of the cases of Islamic terror fundraising for al-Shabaab by Somalis we brought to America through refugee resettlement (at your expense) had gone to trial and those convicted were safely tucked away in prison (at your expense).  Oh, and adding insult to injury, it is surely your welfare dollars they are sending to Africa.

Surprise!  Here is yet another case!   One of the women is from Seattle, Washington and the other from Reston, Virginia.  The story I first saw is this one from the Seattle Times via AP (thus the focus on Seattle’s alleged terrorist).

Dhirane appeared in District Court in Seattle on Tuesday. http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/kent-woman-suspected-funding-terrorist-group/ngmYG/

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A Washington state woman and four other people have been charged with funneling money to the al-Qaida-linked extremist group al-Shabab in Somalia.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Alexandria announced the charges Wednesday. The two women, one from Kent, Wash., and the other from Reston, Va., are charged with providing material support to a foreign terrorist network. The U.S. designated al-Shabab as a terrorist group in 2008.

Prosecutors say 44-year-old Hinda Osman Dhirane of Kent and 34-year-old Muna Osman Jama of Reston were arrested in their homes. Dhirane faces an initial appearance Wednesday at the federal courthouse in Seattle.

Three others overseas have also been charged. One is in custody in the Netherlands; the other two are fugitives in Kenya and Somalia.

Prosecutors say the women raised money for al-Shabab using code words like “orphans” to refer to al-Shabab fighters.

According to the Department of Justice, Dhirane and Jama Jama are leaders of an al-Shabaab fundraising conspiracy operating in the U.S., Kenya, the Netherlands, Somalia and elsewhere.  Jama was allegedly responsible for sending money to Kenya through overseas defendant Fardowsa Jama Mohamed, while Dhirane was primarily responsible for sending money to Somalia through another overseas defendant, Barira Hassan Abdullahi, according to the charges.

The Seattle area boasts the second-largest Somali population in the U.S., behind Minneapolis-St. Paul. Over the years, the FBI and federal prosecutors have attempted to make in-roads into the community.  [I don’t think “boasts” is the right word here, do you?—ed]

There is more, read on.

For energetic readers, click here for all of our previous posts (going back years) on the topic of ‘Somali terror funding.’

LOL!  Watch for CAIR to come out of the woodwork!

Somalis show their colors in Minnesota house race

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Diversity is strength alert!  (And, there is another good laugh at the end of this post too!)

For a little break from the invasion at the border, here is an update that ‘pungentpeppers’ found about the increasing violence between both sides (both sides have Somali supporters)—between the “old Jewish lady” and the “Muslim brother” for a seat representing the largest concentration of  Somalis probably in America.

Khan (aka old Jewish lady) vs. Noor (aka Muslim brother)

Our earlier story is here.

From Politics in Minnesota:

The Kahn-Noor race has caused or exposed a rift in Minneapolis’ Somali community that’s led to allegations of violence unprecedented in recent Minnesota campaigns.

Here is the background.  Minnesota campaign need (not yard signs or a voter list)—pepper spray!

The tooth-and-nail contest between 42-year incumbent Rep. Phyllis Kahn and Somali newcomer Mohamud Noor continues to draw allegations of violence, intimidation and voter suppression from both sides of the race. It has also spawned at least two legal disputes.

The complicated relationships that cut across both campaigns can’t be jammed into neat cultural or generational boxes. Kahn, with the help of longtime Minneapolis DFL power broker Brian Rice, has carved out a small but impressive bloc of Somali activist supporters. They include City Council Member Abdi Warsame, who was part of a new guard elected to city government in 2013. Whether that will be enough to blunt the strength of Noor’s support among Somali voters in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood is difficult to tell.

Noor did manage to keep Kahn from securing the DFL’s endorsement at the Senate District 60 convention in April, thereby punching his ticket to their primary face-off on August 12.

“That’s why it’s so intense, and that’s why it’s such a mess: because both sides perceive that this is such a critical race,” political expert David Schultz said. “For Phyllis Kahn, this is it… she’s fighting because this is the first time she’s had a serious fight.”

But Rice and Kahn’s efforts to curry support among Somalis have revealed schisms in the tight-knit community, where two alleged instances of high-profile violence against Noor supporters have marred the campaign so far. One, just last week, has prompted a few Noor volunteers to begin carrying pepper spray, and some volunteers say they are afraid for their safety.

Read it all.

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that there are Somali factions fighting on both sides, remember it is just that type of squabbling (and the clan wars) that has ruined Somalia and they have brought their quarrelsome cultural practices with them.  But, as the Lutheran, Catholic and Jewish groups resettling refugees to your towns will tell you again and again—this cultural diversity is sooo beautiful.

Vote fraud alleged!

In our earlier post we reported on the voter fraud alleged in the previous election.  Steve Sailer writing at VDARE asked an important question (when posting on this article)—so how did they become citizens if they can’t understand English?  Here is the quote from the article:

 One alleges that a Minneapolis elections judge named Fadmo called Kahn “an old Jewish Lady” while interpreting the primary ballot for a Somali man who was recently at City Hall to cast his absentee ballot. On the other hand, Fadmo characterized Noor as “our Muslim brother,” the complaint says.

And, here is Sailer’s observation:

If the Somali voter passed the citizenship test, why isn’t he literate in English? Why does he need fellow Somali Fadmo to tell him which squiggle on the ballot represents “our Muslim brother” and which squiggle “an old Jewish lady?”

The white man must stop trying to suppress the right to vote of illiterate Somali citizens; in the spirit of cultural sensitivity, candidates names should appear on the ballots not only in Arabic, but, for the illiterate, should come marked with symbols instantly recognizable to a Somali as Good (e.g., Mohamud Noor’s name could be accompanied by a picture of an AK-47) or Bad (e.g., a sow).

Fun huh!  Eat your heart out if your Somali Muslim population isn’t large enough yet to show you the joys of multicultural political campaign tactics.

One of our top posts of all time is this one from 2011—Why so many Somalis in Minneapolis.