Leaders in Eden Prairie, Edina, Somali communities call for end to gun violence and stereotypes
Go Deeper.
Create an account or log in to save stories.
Like this?
Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.
A shooting outside Eden Prairie High School’s homecoming football game Friday night set off a round of concern about Somali gang activity — and pushback from the Somali community.
Eden Prairie Police say a 17- and 18-year-old were injured in the shooting in the high school’s parking lot. Police said both are of Somali descent.
Some local residents and political leaders, including U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer, followed the news with criticism of what they called Somali gang violence – and some, with broader criticism directed at the Somali community.
Somali leaders say that’s dangerous rhetoric.
Turn Up Your Support
MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all.
Yusra Mohamud is a community organizer in the Twin Cities. She works with other community leaders who she says are worried about violence in the Somali community, too, and working on strategies to keep kids out of gangs.
But, she said, “we need to be careful not to let legitimate concerns about violence become permission to generalize about Somali people.”
She said politicians and law enforcement leaders erode trust from the Somali community when they make those generalizations.
“People feel very unsafe. They feel they feel scared for their children. I know the youth as well feel very unsafe,” Mohamud said. “People are very uncomfortable during this time, and the political climate — it's very heated.”
She pointed to last winter’s surge of federal agents to the Twin Cities, which the federal government initially claimed was meant to root out fraud by Somali people in the state.
Other Somali leaders echoed that, while acknowledging gang violence is a problem. Imam Hassan Jama of the Al-Hikma Islamic Center called it a gun violence issue in a post on social media.
“Youth violence has long been one of our highest priorities, and we have been gathering and working on it together,” he said.
In a statement posted to his social media Monday, Eden Prairie Mayor Ron Case said he wants to see more work to address gang violence.
“I am calling for the creation of a dedicated regional task force to address gang activity among East African youth — bringing together state, county and local law enforcement, prosecutors, schools, social services, youth-service organizations and, importantly, Somali community leaders,” Case wrote.
He also called for support for Eden Prairie’s Somali community on the whole, and said he appreciated ongoing work on youth violence by Somali leaders.
Other city leaders call for end to violence and caution about stereotyping
On Monday, Edina Mayor Jim Hovland spoke at a public meeting on two shootings that also involved young Somalis. In July, police were called to Yancey Park to respond to a shots fired call. Police said no one was injured, but the gunfire struck a nearby home.
And in September, a group of teens and young adults playing basketball at a church were fired upon.
Hovland said Somali families are worried their children will be stereotyped or targeted.
“We will not tolerate gun violence in our community, and we will not tolerate innocent people being judged by their race, ethnicity, or national origin, the city is concerned about conduct, not ethnicity, not country of origin, not religion,” he said.
Hovland says there is no evidence that Edina students or other Edina youth were involved in the incidents.
Eden Prairie resumes football game cut short by shots fired
Eden Prairie High School resumed classes Monday, and the football team returned to the field after school to finish out the game against Minnetonka. There were just over 10 minutes left on the clock Friday when the shooting happened, which the teams played out on Monday.
Parents and students filled the stands, and cheerleaders returned to the track. The mood was excited — despite the additional staff and security on site.
Alyssa Cappelli is a parent of one of the football players. She came to watch the last ten minutes of the game after being evacuated from the stadium Friday, and said she’s not worried about safety going forward.
“We have amazing staff. We have amazing security teams. It was handled so swiftly and so brilliantly,” Cappelli said.
The investigation into the shooting is ongoing. Both of the people injured are expected to survive.
