Super
Bowl stokes hopes, concerns of Minneapolis' Somali community
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[January 25, 2018]
By Chris Kenning
MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) - The largest
Somali community in the United States is centered just blocks from
the site of this year's Super Bowl, but that is too close for
comfort for some of the mostly Muslim residents of the "Little
Mogadishu" neighborhood in Minneapolis.
Some Somali residents worry about being a target of the heightened
security that always surrounds one of the biggest sports events -
but especially this year, when fear and suspicions about Muslims and
immigrants in general are running high.
With thousands of visitors expected ahead of the National Football
League's championship game on Feb. 4, Somali residents say they are
concerned about the potential for harassment or random violence
directed at members of the Somali community, long vilified as a
hotbed of extremism.
"The Super Bowl is great, but there is an anti-immigrant and
anti-Muslim mood in this country. A lot of people are coming," said
Abdirizak Bihi, director of Somali Education and Social Advocacy
Center.

Despite apprehensions, many are also eager to dispel negative views
and show football fans that the community is hard-working and
friendly - no different from many other ethnic communities in the
United States.
The heart of the community is located within sight of U.S. Bank
Stadium in the neighborhood of Cedar-Riverside, where coffee houses,
Somali shops and a mosque dot the streets, and women covered with
hijabs are a frequent sight.
The greater Minneapolis area is home to about 50,000 people with
Somali heritage, those born in the United States as well as
immigrants and refugees from the East African country.
Somalia and its capital, Mogadishu, have endured decades of
political instability and more recently militant attacks from
Al-Shabaab. The country has also been targeted by Trump's travel
ban, which blocks entry into the United States of most people from
Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen.
More than 20 Somali-Americans have left Minnesota to join extremist
groups overseas, such as ISIS and Al-Shabaab, but local leaders say
this is a small number that defames a friendly and hard-working
people.
"Our community has been labeled as a national security threat. We
live in constant apprehension," said Kamal Hassan, who founded
Somali Human Rights coalition in Minneapolis after fleeing his
homeland. "Every day you hear social media threats against our
community."
SECURITY TIGHT
Growing anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant sentiment in the United
States, fueled by President Donald Trump's statements before and
"America First" rhetoric, has exacerbated anxieties about public
attitudes and police surveillance and immigration enforcement,
according to community leaders.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has denied that the Somali
community was under any special scrutiny for the Super Bowl. It
never investigates people or groups based solely on ethnicity, race
or national origin, said Jeffrey Van Nest, media coordinator for the
FBI in Minneapolis.
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Mohamed Omar, executive director of Dar-Al Farooq Islamic Center,
whose center was bombed last summer in Bloomington, Minnesota, talks
about the lack of progress in the investigation, ahead of theNFL's
Super Bowl in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. January 20, 2018. Picture
taken January 20, 2018. REUTERS/Craig Lassig

But with the big game approaching, community leaders have stepped up
efforts to dispel the negative perceptions and fears, going on radio
shows and holding meetings with police in an effort to build
relations and prevent trouble.
Such concerns are not entirely unfounded.
More than a year after young Somali men from Minneapolis were put on
trial for trying to join the Islamic State in 2016, a bomb was
thrown though the window of the Dar Al Farooq mosque last summer.
"We are vulnerable. We are a few steps away from the stadium," said
Mohamed Omar, executive director of the mosque. "It's very scary
now, the climate we live in."
About 60 public agencies, including the FBI and Minneapolis police,
are taking part in security operations for the Super Bowl, which
officials term as a "Tier 1" event.
The planning began two years ago and authorities plan to exhibit a
massive show of force to deter and protect against any would-be
attackers, including thousands of uniformed police and bomb-sniffing
dogs.

Behind the scenes, authorities will deploy undercover officers, the
latest technology and military-style intelligence, surveillance and
reconnaissance to counter any threat.
Many local Somali residents will be driving taxis during Super Bowl
week, as well as working as security guards at the stadium and
serving traditional food at local cafes nearby.
Located just across an interstate highway from the game, Super Bowl
visitors could easily stroll through Little Mogadishu or wander into
one of the city's Somali malls, lined with stalls selling colorful
African dresses and meat-filled pastries.
"They will see a different community than (the) one portrayed in the
news," said Jibril Afyare, president of the Twin Cities Somali
American Citizens League.
(Reporting by Chris Kenning in Minneapolis and Daniel Trotta in New
York; editing by G Crosse)
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