Iman Mohamoud is in her second year as an English teacher at Eden Prairie High School. Things had been relatively fine for her at the high school up until a few months ago, in late November, when she began to have unwanted encounters with an individual she believed to be a law enforcement officer.
One afternoon, during her lunch break, Mohamoud says she found herself blocked in by a vehicle that was parked directly behind her. She got out of her car and approached the man in the marked car. He then attempted to ask her who she was and why she was on school property.
Mohamoud refused to give her name but stated that she did indeed work at the school. Worried that she’d be late returning from her lunch break, she exited the conversation causing the officer to drive away.
Mohamoud would continue to see this officer in his vehicle many times over several months as he drove near the school. She stated that she knew the school’s resource officers and knew that this man was not one of them.
On Feb. 8, Mohamoud would have another encounter with the officer, now identified as a civilian member of the Eden Prairie Police Department. She recalled how this officer blared his siren at her to gain her attention while cutting off her path as she walked toward the school.
“He’s really just trying to intimidate me and scare me at this point. It’s the same question,” she said. “I’m answering them calmly, respectfully. I still don’t tell him my name. That’s why I’m kind of frustrated. I tell him, ‘You stopped me a couple of months ago.’”
She explains that the man in question acknowledged that he had spoken to her some time ago and had asked the same questions.
The situation caused Mohamoud to burst into tears as she walked away. She went toward the principal’s office in search of support but could only connect with the school secretary. While they spoke, Mohamoud noticed that the person of her concern had entered the school building after her.
The secretary left Mohamoud in the office to speak with him who continued to ask about her employment status with the school. The secretary confirmed Mohamoud’s employment, leading the person to comment on how “young” Mohamoud looked.
In the days following, Mohamoud worked to meet with the school’s principal or any other administrator or district representative but was unsuccessful in those attempts.
“Then Monday comes around, and then the superintendent has this genius idea of sitting me with the very principal who couldn’t even meet with me, as well as leaders of the police department,” she said.
Mohamoud clarified with her union representative that she wanted to meet directly with the principal before sitting with anyone else. Her friends, advisors, and lawyer all shared that they disagreed with the district’s proposed approach.
She felt unheard even with her union representative, who questioned what else Mohamoud could have wanted. “She’s telling me the school can’t tell police officers to not be on school grounds and I’m telling her that that’s not what I’m asking for,” Mohamoud said.
“The school has a responsibility to keep me safe. I can tell this one specific officer that’s approached me twice now and followed me into the school to stop doing this.”
At the time of this writing, Mohamoud had only received email correspondence with her administrators about their conversations and dialogue with the police department and no word of any formal inquiry into the behavior of the officer in question.
On Monday, Feb. 28, Mohamoud took matters into her own hands and approached the school board directly. She attended a school board meeting surrounded by friends, family, and colleagues and stated her experience of alleged harassment over the past few months. She was given only three minutes to share her story.
“In the past few months, I have been subject to harassment. Racial discrimination and unwarranted surveillance by a police officer. The response from my high school and district has left me feeling unsafe and terrified to come to work,” she stated at the meeting. “I’m asking the board to protect its teachers, students, and staff by ensuring this officer will not be on campus moving forward.”
Kos Adam, a friend of Mohamoud’s, attended the school board meeting and was surprised by the handling of Mohamoud’s situation.
“I was just shocked at the lack of response because I’m like, at least acknowledge, like, she doesn’t feel safe at her place of employment,” she said. “It’s already hard enough working in this environment. Why not try to support them?”
Aesha Mohamed, a friend of Mohamoud, shared her thoughts on the school board’s lack of response to Mohamoud’s statement.
“I feel like the way they acted tonight was just very poor. They didn’t show any concern,” she said. “She’s nervous. She’s scared because of what happened. She doesn’t feel safe, and they’re just like time’s up. When she’s not done speaking. It’s highly dismissive.”
The district shared the following statement about the situation on Friday.
“We are aware of the concerns raised and have taken steps to address them. Unfortunately, we are limited in the information we can share without a signed release from Iman. If she were to provide that, we would be happy to discuss this in more detail.”
Upon inquiry about the officer and his alleged harassment of Mohamoud, Joyce Lorenz, communications manager for the city of Eden Prairie, shared a statement over email. “I can confirm we are investigating a complaint made against a civilian member of the Police Department. The investigation is still in progress and is expected to be concluded shortly,” she said.
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Glad to see the EP police haven’t lost their touch for incompetence.
https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/detective-travis-serafin-no-criminal-charges-eden-prairie-police-department/
Not surprised. EP school district does not care about their staff. They “say” all the right things but don’t back it up.