Ramsey County sheriff Bob Fletcher is concentrating on curbing violence involving Somali gang members. The sheriff says a recent outbreak of gun violence convinced him it was time to go public with his concerns.
Fletcher told the WCCO Morning News with Vineeta Sawkar that there's been a sharp increase in gun-related violence traced to about a dozen different young Somali groups.
"There's 100,000 Somali people in Minnesota and we're really targeting 300," Sheriff Fletcher explains. "It's 300 young youth that are misguided and need some redirection and correction. And accountability, to be honest with you. Putting some of them in jail is a part of the solution."
Fletcher says he's been working with the Somali community since 2010, and there's a level of understanding that candid conversations can be made without inflaming opinions. He says that the federal government's immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities created a sensitivity towards addressing the actual issues of violence in that community.
"The ICE surge and all the other things going on have prevented us from actually talking about this problem," says Fletcher. "And I, in good conscience, just couldn't continue to pretend that it wasn't a problem."
Fletcher says the people they are concerned about makes up a very small percentage of the Somali community in Ramsey County. He says they are gang-like in the way they operate, and they carry guns with switches making them automatic.
However, Fletcher says, they are still at a point where he believes the community and law enforcement can step-in and slow their growth.
"And I will tell you, the mayor's office in Minneapolis is very aware of this problem," he says. "They were actually scheduling a meeting, trying to get a meeting with the Minneapolis gang members. These kids are very regionally based. At this point, they haven't really got into the heavy drug trafficking, which is good. We have a chance to reach them still."
In multiple instances, President Donald Trump and the administration has attacked the Minnesota Somali community as a whole, something Fletcher says shouldn't curtail law enforcement from being out front in taking on gang violence.
"You know, 97% of them are great kids, and they come up and thank us for being there because they don't want the gang violence to interrupt their evening as well," Fletcher explains. "I say that all the time. I've been working with the Somali community since 2010. It took 5 years to develop their trust, and I think I'm in a position where we can have candid conversations without inflaming it locally. Now, I can't account for other politicians. They're not accurate, it's not true that the entire community is (violent). A lot of them are successful, and contributing, and graduating from college."
There is a meeting scheduled for June 21 between the Ramsey County Sheriff's Department and Somali community leaders, along with some parents.
