Somalis divide their anger between police, community

Police are frustrated that witnesses aren't stepping forward. Some Somalis blame cultural divides. Five Somalis have been killed in Minneapolis since December.

By JIM ADAMS, Star Tribune

Last update: September 25, 2008 - 9:15 PM

In a packed gym at the Brian Coyle Community Center, Somali leaders on Thursday asked members of their own community and police for help in solving recent Somali homicides, including Monday's fatal shooting outside of the center.

Somali speakers directed their anger at their community for not helping authorities, and at police for not solving the murders.

"No one has been brought to justice," University of Minnesota student Kibret Gebremedhin said sharply, looking at Police Chief Tim Dolan. "Why? They think they can get away with it, that's why. So please do something," said the tearful student, a friend of the man killed Monday.

"We have to have witnesses," Dolan replied. "Police cannot solve this by themselves. Police didn't do this, but we need your help. Bring that rage home and have somebody come forward to police or to community leaders who can help them come forward."

Several hundred Somalis and others listened to a police update and community leaders' request for better security at the center, which is a block from the Cedar Riverside towers where many Somalis live.

Capt. Amelia Huffman told the group that "good progress" is being made in the killing of Ahmed Nur Ali, 20. The Augsburg College student was shot Monday afternoon outside the Coyle Center, where he volunteered as a tutor. He was the fifth Somali killed in the city since December.

The meeting was convened by a panel of two Somali leaders, Augsburg College's president and Pillsbury United Communities president Tony Wagner.

Wagner said the panel leaders agreed on seven proposals to make the center safer, including adding security cameras outside, adding a security officer or police liaison every evening from 5 to 10 p.m. and hiring two professional Somali outreach workers to connect with Somali youth.

City Council Member Cam Gordon said he will do what he can to help with those requests. In response to Muslim speakers who criticized police for not covering the victim's face right away, he said the city needs to look at how it handles murder victims' bodies.

Jalil Hussein, another U student, said security at the center is too lax and people hang around out front and in the adjacent park, some selling drugs. Noting he had seen young children playing in the park unattended, he told community parents: "You need to control your kids. You need to know when they eat, when they sleep and when they come home. ... Our kids are out of control."

Hassan Mohamud, the imam, or spiritual leader, at the Ali family's mosque, said some community members said they gave police enough information about Monday's shooting to warrant an arrest.

He said later that Somalis are conflicted between their Muslim beliefs, social clan rules that say they should protect clan members whether they do good or ill and threats of harm if they talk to police. He said the Qur'an mandates that anyone seeing a murder must inform authorities. "People have called me to ask if it is a sin not to inform authorities if we they are facing [death] threats," he said. "I tell them it is a major sin if you don't inform."

The victim's father, Ulusow Ali, sat quietly beside the panel for more than two hours.

He said his family fled Somalia in 1991 "and now this bullet has killed my son." To his people, he added: "We destroyed our land because of the civil war, so I advise them not to destroy this land."

Jim Adams • 612-673-7658

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