Ramsey County Sheriff hosts community meeting to address Somali gangs
Ramsey County Somali gang meeting
Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher hosted a community meeting in Arden Hills following public backlash surrounding his controversial comments about Somali gangs. FOX 9’s Maury Glover has the latest.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Community members gathered for a meeting led by the Ramsey County sheriff to discuss growing concerns about Somali gang violence and its impact on families.
Community gathers to address Somali gang violence
What we know:
About 200 people turned out for the meeting, which lasted about an hour. Sheriff Bob Fletcher spoke at length about what he described as a growing problem in the community.
"There is never a good time to have a hard conversation. That's the problem. But the longer we go by not having this conversation, the more people are going to die," said Fletcher.
The sheriff’s office says there are 12 Somali gangs involving about 300 young people, and investigators believe these groups are responsible for 14 murders and more than 100 shootings over the last couple of years. Many of these crimes involve automatic weapons and are fueled by bragging rights on social media.
Sheriff Fletcher said the goal of the meeting was to educate Somali parents about the scope of the issue and encourage them to work with law enforcement.
"One of the biggest issues in the Somali community is some parents are unaware of where their kids are at. Their kids are out in the middle of the night. They don't know where their kids are at. That's why we are having the meeting today to let the community know and have the parents on our side, because we need solid community policing if we want to solve this problem and parents can play a big part in this," said Jama Shine, Ramsey County Sheriff's Office investigator.
Families share pain and hope for change
Why you should care:
Fatuma Salad, whose son was killed by gun violence, spoke about the pain families are feeling.
"We are so sad as a community. We need help, and we need to understand this problem and to do something because we are suffering. Some of them already get the pain and some are in fear maybe their son will be killed. Maybe you don't know what will happen in the future," said Salad.
Harun Awad, a member of the Somali community, shared his hopes that grieving mothers would be heard and that at-risk young people would find a better path.
"I do hope some of the mothers here that have lost youth. I hope they get something from this. I hope they are heard, and I hope the Somali youth that are in gangs find a better path and, ideally, find better role models and exit the life," said Awad.
What's next:
Sheriff Fletcher said he plans to hold another meeting within the next couple of weeks to focus on finding solutions.