Muslim Minnesota Gangs Become More Dangerous -AP

he girl was 12 when the gangsters told her the rule: They would sell her for sex to men outside the gang, but members of the Somali Outlaws or the Somali Mafia would use her for free.

For more than two years she was taken on "missions" to abandoned garages, men's bathrooms, apartments and hotels, enduring hours with multiple men so gang members could get money, pot or booze. Though her mother confronted two of the men early on and warned them the girl wasn't even 13, they continued to prostitute her.

Eventually some of the gang members took her on the road to new customers in Nashville, Tenn., and the man she called her "boyfriend" is accused of using a cell phone to send images of her engaging in sex acts with men in the car along the way.

The enterprise described in a federal indictment has shocked members of Minnesota's Somali community, the largest in the U.S. And it suggests that gangs known in recent years for armed robberies, burglaries and even killings of fellow East Africans have moved into more lucrative activities and are taking their crimes from Minneapolis to other parts of the country.

"It's clear the life of the gang in the community is getting much more complicated," said Omar Jamal, an advocate for the Somali community in Minneapolis. "It's one thing to go out and have a random action. It's something quite new to the community to have organized sex trafficking."

In recent years, authorities and the community have been increasingly working together to fight the gangs and to steer Somali youths in positive directions. Community centers and mosques set up youth basketball and soccer tournaments to keep kids busy, and they've held forums to discuss issues as they arise — including a recent meeting on sex trafficking.

Somalis began arriving in Minnesota in the early 1990s — refugees fleeing civil war in their homeland and finding welcome in a state with a strong tradition of helping newcomers. But as young Somalis entered the school system with little or no formal education or English skills, they were targeted by established gangs for being different.
So they formed their own groups.

Oh yes, blame everyone and eveything except the root cause. Interesting that the AP failed to mention that these Muslim gangs are doing the same thing across the country. In Maine, Muslim gangs are wilding, leaving terror in their wake. And in San Francisco, Muslim gangs target gays, shooting them with BB guns in a wave of terror. The pattern of Islamic supremacist violence grows in "gateway" cities like Lewiston, Maine; Shelbyville, Tennessee; St. Cloud, Minnesota; Clarkston, Georgia; and Jamestown, North Dakota.

"They were trying to find identity," said Hassan Mohamud, the imam at Islamic Da'wah Center, a youth-oriented mosque and cultural center in St. Paul. "They do not belong to Somalis. They do not belong to Islam. They do not belong to America. So they found their own system. \u2026 They had good intention. At first the good intention was to help and support each other and protect. But they eventually changed that support system to harm." The federal indictment unsealed in November in Tennessee charges 29 people with crimes from sex trafficking to credit card fraud to witness intimidation. It said the accused were members or associates of three Somali gangs — often acting as one larger gang — bent on forcing girls into prostitution for their own profit.

The indictment outlines allegations involving four victims and hundreds of thousands of dollars in credit card fraud. One girl was prostituted in Nashville and in Columbus, Ohio, and another was raped by men in a Minnesota hotel room, the indictment said.

Jamal said that over the years, the Somali gangs realized they needed to generate a steady income. The crimes alleged in the indictment illustrate that at least some might have turned to sex trafficking and credit card fraud as a way to make money.

"It's a gradual growth of becoming more active, becoming more serious," Jamal said. "It speaks in volume of how the community has failed collectively to save the minors, especially the girls." Most of those indicted in Tennessee are in custody there, said Van Vincent, the assistant U.S. attorney prosecuting the case.

When asked about the victim who was just 12 when first sold for sex — and identified in the indictment as "Jane Doe Two" — he would only say, "She is currently safe."

TIZA Publicly Funded Islamic School

The latest outrage in a textbook case of Islamic supremacism in a taxpayer funded Islamic school is the thug-like Muslim intimidation and bullying of anyone who challenges this publicly funded madrassah. I have been covering this school since early 2008.

This is a "teachable moment" for the ACLU, which has generally refrained from tackling issues of separation of mosque and state despite its war on Christianity and the separation of church and state. TiZA is an egregious violation of the separation of mosque and state, which is why the ACLU is suing the school. Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy (TIZA) is a K-8 charter school in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota. Charter schools are public schools, and by law must not endorse or promote religion. But TIZA is an Islamic school, funded by Minnesota taxpayers.

TiZA shares the headquarters building of the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, whose mission is "establishing Islam in Minnesota." The building also houses a mosque. TIZA's executive director, Asad Zaman, is a Muslim imam, or religious leader, and its sponsor is an organization called Islamic Relief.

Students pray daily, the cafeteria serves halal food -- permissible under Islamic law -- and "Islamic Studies" is offered at the end of the school day.

Here is what one teacher at TiZA said: "teachers led the kids into the gym, where a man dressed in white with a white cap, who had been at the school all day," was preparing to lead prayer. Beside him, another man "was prostrating himself in prayer on a carpet as the students entered." "The prayer I saw was not voluntary," Getz said. "The kids were corralled by adults and required to go to the assembly where prayer occurred."

Katherine Kersten of the Star Tribune continues her seminal, brave and singular reporting TiZA vs. the search for truth. Here's an excerpt of her latest, read it all (hat tip George).

Free Speech Against Muslims Prohibited

When SCOTUS permits women in high heels to stomp defenseless little animals on film, it should allow a man to mock Muhammad with cartoons.

"Hearing set for man who posted anti-Islam drawings," by David Unze for the St. Cloud Times, April 23:

A June 1 hearing has been scheduled for the Waite Park man who admitted posting anti-Islam drawings at various locations in St. Cloud.

The hearing is an opportunity for Sidney Allen Elyea to dispute a civil charge that he violated a city ordinance prohibiting posting materials on fixtures. Elyea faces two civil charges that each carry a maximum fine of $250.

Elyea has admitted posting the drawings and said he did so to educate others about Islam. The city charged Elyea through the civil process after county attorneys in Benton and Stearns counties declined to file criminal charges of obscenity or defamation against him, saying that what he posted was protected speech.

So two county attorneys thought that Elyea was exercising his freedom of speech, and yet the city pressed forward with a case anyway. Why is that? Why are Muslims being set up in this country as a protected class that must not be criticized or offended? Who else enjoys such protection? Why, no one, of course. And no one should.

Elyea's attorney has echoed that opinion, adding previously that Elyea was protesting in a nonviolent manner and that the city's ordinance encourages arbitrary enforcement and is void because it's vague.

"Given what our Supreme Court has done to protect the right to free speech, it baffles me that the government has not dismissed this case," Attorney Ryan Garry said Friday. "The city attorney's office should be charging and citing residents for the crimes they commit, not for the opinions they have."...

The drawings that Elyea posted contained explicit depictions of bestiality and sodomy, contained images of the Prophet Muhammad in derogatory positions and contained pictures and words offensive to Muslims in particular.

One set of the drawings was found posted to a telephone pole outside a Somali-owned business in East St. Cloud. Other copies were found in other parts of the city.

So he may be a jerk. He may be a provocateur. He may be a lout. But is it illegal now to be those things, when a certain hypersensitive group is the recipient of the loutish behavior?