Somali Americans in Minnesota say they are being unfairly targeted as campaign ads ahead of next week’s US elections increasingly name the community in attacks over fraud and crime.
Republican candidates and allied groups have focused on fraud in state assistance programmes under Governor Tim Walz. The largest case, Feeding Our Future, has led to more than 65 fraud convictions, most of them Somali Americans; the convicted ringleader is a white American.
Several ads go further and refer directly to Somalis, MPR News reports. One by the political action committee Restore Sanity accuses Somali fraudsters of stealing billions and blames Democratic governor candidate Amy Klobuchar. Another, from the Safer Minnesota Fund, links Attorney General Keith Ellison to Somali gangs. Republican governor candidate Lisa Demuth says in her own ad that Minnesota needs safe communities, not Somali gang shootouts. Supporters of the ads say voters are right to be angry about fraud and recent shootings in the Twin Cities suburbs that police have linked to youth gangs.
Community leaders reject what they see as collective blame. State Senator Zaynab Mohamed said many Somali families have lived in Minnesota for decades, some into the third generation, and that the actions of a few do not represent the whole community. Some leaders say they fear the rhetoric could lead to violence, and several mosques have increased security.
University of Minnesota political scientist Dan Myers said such ads follow an old tactic of casting opponents’ supporters as outsiders, and could cost Republicans Somali votes. Former Republican candidate Salman Fiqy said the rhetoric had driven him away from the party.
Sources: MPR News; FOX 9.
