U.S. Attorney says danger is present in the Twin Cities
U.S. Attorney Andrew Lugar sounded a warning on Tuesday, April 21, 2015 that terrorism recruitment had penetrated the liberal comfort of Minnesota and the Twin Cities. Lugar’s office announced the arrest of six young Somalis, four in the Twin Cities, two in San Diego, aged 19-21, the result of the federal task force that has long been probing activities of terrorist groups operating in the Twin Cities.
It is easy to radicalize young men when all they think they are offered are fear, poverty, humiliation and no positive future. The question is not that it is taking place, but why it didn’t happen sooner, given how Minnesota fosters status quo in the Black community, not prosperity through education and jobs.
Black leadership in the Twin Cities has rarely talked about the radicalization of our young African Americans. Did not both White and Blacks do so in the 60s and 70s with the counter culture and Vietnam War protests, until Whites again left them behind? To not talk about this kind of radicalization is to close an already blind eye to the reality of this struggle by young people worldwide.
The danger of recruitment and planning for home-grown terrorist activity was seen a year ago, on January 1, 2014, when a building exploded along Cedar Avenue in downtown Minneapolis. There was little discussion about that incident nor about those who died nor about the Federal government intercepting messages from the Twin Cities to terrorist operatives in Nairobi, Kenya and Mogadishu, Somalia.
There have already been deaths in the combat zones of Syria of young men born and raised in Minnesota. The government’s anti-terrorism task force is quite aware of the associations and the activities of radicalizing young African American men inside and outside the United States.
Black leadership in the Twin Cities has shown no appetite to address this threat nor taken steps to combat it. One must take note that no elected politicians, including our 5th District Congressman, have provided us with a sense of concern nor recommendations for facing the radicalization of our young African Americans, a clear threat to our state, as its not only young Somalis who feel left out of society and the economy.
We have the responsibility to be vigilant and pro-active before announcements that our own indigenous community are persons of interest to be dealt with in the global conflict with America on the front lines, contrary to what is being said in mainstream media. We must not fail to take note of the increased tension between the United States and both her allies and Iran, especially in regards to the conflict in Yemen. The continued hostility between Christians and Muslims is one of the greatest threats that the world knows today.
Why are so many surprised? I have fought for young Black youth for over 50 years. Since 2002, I have published over 100 columns, blog entries, and book chapters on the emergency regarding the ongoing war on young Black men and warning how it could lead to their rebellion, even before this new terrorism wrinkle.
The Star Tribune and do-gooder organizations keep their heads in the sand. The Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder has long sounded the alarm about the ongoing betrayals that our young have experienced. These betrayals include when Africans were betrayed to slavers, betrayed after Emancipation to Jim Crow, betrayed after World War II manufacturing job prosperity to jobs taken away, to the most long lasting and continuing betrayal, denial of good education and jobs, especially now when so many new occupations require university training and degrees.
Stay tuned.
For Ron’s hosted radio and TV show’s broadcast times, solutions papers, books and archives, go to www.TheMinneapolisStory.com. To order his books, go to www.BeaconOnTheHillPress.com.