Somali community leaders in Minnesota call gang shootings an American youth and gun problem

Right · 1Somali community leaders, parents and religious representatives held a press conference in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, on Oct. 7 after several days of gang-related shootings across the Twin Cities. 1 Right · 1Speaker Asad Aliweyd acknowledged that Somali American youth were involved and said those responsible must be held accountable. He argued they are "American youth, born and raised all here", and called it "a youth violence and gun violence problem" rather than a Somali one. 1 Right · 2Teacher Fardousa Yossuf said she had not expected children raised with Islamic values to get guns. She suggested Somali parents, under pressure to work hard, had not given their children enough attention. 1 2

Right · 2Imam Yusuf Abdulle told WCCO-CBS Minnesota: "These kids are Americans. They're born and raised here. It is an American problem. It is not a Somali problem." Other speakers pointed to media bias and politics. 1 2 Right · 1Aliweyd also urged journalists to report fairly. Hot Air, citing KARE 11, noted that he leads a nonprofit ordered to repay $1.1 million to the state over "fraudulent claims", and that he has not been charged with any crime. 1 Right · 2More than 100 shots were fired overnight on Harriet Avenue in Bloomington, in a gunfight that left one person injured. Police Chief Booker Hodges said the young Somali-American gang members under investigation come from families with money and resources, unlike typical drug- or money-driven gangs. 2 1

Right · 1Hodges said he did not know what drives the violence beyond social-media disputes ("I don't know. I can't tell you. I really wish I could"). He said investigators have seen no evidence that Somali clan rivalries are behind it, that police are redirecting task-force resources toward the gangs, and that he questions whether some Hennepin County prosecution policies limit intervention. 2 Right · 1Fox News also quoted outside experts. Jessica Vaughan of the Center for Immigration Studies argued that settling refugees in clusters removes incentives to assimilate and may have facilitated the gangs, though she acknowledged she had not established that resettlement policies or specific schools caused the shootings. Stanford sociologist Tomás Jiménez said gang involvement among a small part of the second generation reflects "a particular kind of assimilation" rather than failed assimilation. He noted that Italian, Irish, Mexican and Salvadoran communities also saw gang activity while integration continued. 2 Right · 1Fox News said more than 111,000 Somali refugees were admitted to the U.S. between 2001 and 2023, with Minnesota a major destination. 2