The Minneapolis story here is about a police chief apologizing for remarks linking crime to “East African kids,” a local outcry and petition, a wider corruption and terror-financing report tied to Somali money flows, President Trump ending TPS for Somalis in Minnesota, and Republican lawmakers pushing for federal investigations and enforcement. This piece follows those threads: the apology, the community reaction, the allegations of fraud and hawala transfers, the presidential response, and GOP calls for accountability and deportation where warranted.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara publicly apologized after remarks that many in the Somali community found hurtful. “The Somali community here in Minneapolis has been welcoming and has shown love towards me, and I appreciate it,” he said, and he stressed cooperation between police and residents over the last three years. He acknowledged the need to face real problems while also apologizing for anything said out of context that caused harm. The apology came amid rising frustration over juvenile crime patterns in parts of the city.
O’Hara had been discussing a deadly Halloween shooting and juvenile crime when he described perpetrators as coming from outside the city rather than being “poor kids from Minneapolis.” He said the troublemakers sometimes “take mommy’s Mercedes-Benz to Dinkytown, and they don’t know where they are,” and he pointed to “Groups of kids, groups of East African kids that are coming from surrounding communities and not just one community, kind of all over the place.” Those remarks sparked a swift backlash and a petition demanding a formal apology. The petition argued the Somali community already bears unfair scrutiny and that the chief’s words would deepen that burden.
At the same time, a separate investigation into alleged financial schemes tied to Minnesota has amplified national attention on Somalis in the state. Authors from a think tank reported that funds from Minnesota somehow flowed through networks and reached Al-Shabaab, the al Qaeda-linked terrorist group in Somalia. “Every scrap of economic activity, in the Twin Cities, in America, throughout Western Europe, anywhere Somalis are concentrated, every cent that is sent back to Somalia benefits Al-Shabaab in some way,” a former Joint Terrorism Task Force official told the investigators, highlighting how money movement can have global consequences.
President Donald Trump acted quickly after the report and related concerns, announcing he was terminating Temporary Protected Status for Somalis in Minnesota. In his Truth Social post he wrote, “Minnesota, under Governor Waltz, is a hub of fraudulent money laundering activity. I am, as President of the United States, hereby terminating, effective immediately the Temporary Protected Status (TPS program) for Somalis in Minnesota. Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great State, and BILLIONS of dollars are missing. Send them back to where they came from. It’s OVER!” That declaration reflects a broader Republican stance that immigration and humanitarian protections must yield to national security and public safety when evidence suggests abuse.
Conservative policy voices praised the move and urged further action. Christopher F. Rufo called the cancellation “a great start” and pushed for aggressive follow-ups: “Canceling TPS for Minnesota Somalis is a great start. Next: review all asylum, refugee, and citizenship applications for any hint of fraud or technical error; then initiate denaturalizations and mass deportations up to the furthest limits of the law. They have to go home,” . That blunt prescription tracks with a GOP emphasis on enforcing immigration laws and reversing any fraudulently obtained status.
Republican members of Congress from Minnesota also stepped in, demanding federal scrutiny. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, joined by other GOP House members, sent a letter to the U.S. Attorney for Minnesota calling for an investigation into alleged money flows, hawala operations, and schemes that may have redirected Minnesota taxpayer dollars. They pointed to specific fraud cases that allegedly siphoned state resources from programs intended for children and vulnerable families, framing the problem as both a betrayal of taxpayers and a national security risk.
The lawmakers’ letter singled out the hawala network as particularly worrying because informal money transfers are hard to trace and can be exploited by terrorist groups. They noted cases involving state programs like child care assistance and other social services where fraud has been alleged. For Republicans, these allegations reinforce the need for rigorous enforcement, forensic accounting, and potential criminal referrals when fraud links to terrorism financing are suspected. That approach is meant to protect honest residents while cutting off illicit funding routes.
Locally, the story has created tension between law enforcement, civic leaders, and community advocates who say broad-brush statements cause harm. The chief’s apology aimed to calm those tensions while maintaining a focus on solving crimes that afflict neighborhoods. At the same time, federal action and congressional pressure signal that national authorities will pursue leads tying local fraud to global terror networks. The political dynamic makes clear this will be handled as both a law-and-order and a security issue moving forward.
https://x.com/christopherrufo/status/1992108752145887357
