In Minnesota, we reject that. Our community is a tapestry of cultures, and we stand united. Any attempt to demonize, divide, or vilify our neighbors will not stand. Not now. Not ever.

We’ve seen this before: informants planted in mosques, calls for the constitutionally impossible deportation of a sitting Congresswoman—all rooted in the effort to paint immigrant communities as the “dangerous other.”

It’s why I serve in the Legislature today: to stand up for people who are too often targeted, silenced, or left out of the conversation.

I’ve seen these kinds of attacks before. Growing up on the South Side of Chicago, I saw what happens when entire communities are painted as problems instead of people.

The justifications are baseless. When you consider that most Somali Americans are citizens—and only 705 people nationwide even hold Somali TPS status—it becomes painfully clear that cruelty is the point.

As students across Minnesota return to school, their only focus should be on learning, not their personal safety. The epidemic of gun violence continues to wreak havoc on our neighborhoods and we have to offer our community more than simple platitudes. We can, and must, do better.

There will be a lot more to say as we learn more information, but like many of you in the community I am angry. This is the second mass shooting event in less than 24 hours.

From the streets where I grew up to the neighborhoods we share today, I know that real change starts when people come together.

Let’s do this, together.

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I’ve lived the consequences of failed policies and spent my career fighting for fairness, safety, and justice for everyone.

I’m running for Hennepin County Attorney because I believe that public safety starts with public trust, and leadership starts with listening.

I’ve worked to keep guns out of dangerous hands, restore voting rights for tens of thousands of Minnesotans, and invest in community-based violence prevention.

In 2018, I became the first African American to serve on the New Hope City Council, where I built trust between the police department and the community. In 2020, my neighbors sent me to the State Legislature, where I served as vice chair of the Public Safety and Judiciary Committees.