Minneapolis Hate Crime Hotline- Perspective From The Left and Right

Last year Minneapolis, Minnesota- home to many Somali Muslims one of which is newly elected Democratic Rep Ilhan Omar- created a hate-crime/harassment hotline.

"Since the general election, many of us have experienced, witnessed firsthand or heard of actions of: racism, xenophobia, sexism and bigotry directed at people here and in cities across the United States," Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights Director Velma Korbel wrote in a statement posted on the city's website. "In no uncertain terms, hate-motivated speech and actions have no place in Minneapolis nor will they be tolerated."

Not surprisingly, the left and the right have diametrically opposing opinions on what amounts to a snitch hotline for the overly sensitive, accessible through the city's 311 hot line  service. We all know that the only people who become super offended by any criticism of their religion are the Muslims, and it was no doubt created with them in mind, probably spurred on by Council On American Islamic Relations (CAIR).  But the only people who appear to be concerned are those of us who realize that this kind of action will eventually lead to the further erosion of free speech. We are already being censored and censured on social media outlets for even mentioning the word "Shariah". I'm not talking about speech that incites physical violence against anyone, that is an abomination, but criticism is not a hate crime, though it seems to be headed that way if the lefties have their way.

So, if you google, you will find a slew of the usual conservative voices opining about the "Shariah hot line", and then you have the alternative weekly left-leaning rag Minneapolis City Pages calling Shariah Law a "myth", and excoriating those of us who think it's not a myth and potentially the beginning of something dangerous.

Pete Kotz of City Pages wrote in response to Jihad Watch claiming that“This is a helpline for Muslims to report incidents of Islamophobia, including, no doubt, rude remarks that are not criminal, and accurate analysis of the motivating ideology behind jihad terror activity.”:

The hotline, of course, does nothing of the sort. People can still speak freely from the depths of their anal cavity, peddling all the theological nuttery they can slobber. It just can’t rise to the level of a crime. Hence the name “hate crime hotline.” The myth has already been debunked by Snopes and Politifact. But the righteous are not easily deterred by accuracy or cognitive limitations.

It might not now, but no matter how much he mocks those who believe, we don't know for sure what will happen when we lose the ability to freely criticize.

I remember

Somali Women From Minneapolis Join ISIS

Young men from the Somali community in Minneapolis/St Paul have made the trek to Somalia to join the terrorist group al-Shabaab, and now women are running off to Syria to join the some 15-20 men fighting for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

At least three Somali families in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area have female relatives who have gone missing in the past six weeks and may have tried to join ISIS, said community leader Abdirizak Bihi. He said that while the reasons for their disappearance were unclear, he had told the families to contact police.

In a separate case, a 19-year-old American Somali woman from St. Paul snuck away from her parents on Aug. 25 saying she was going to a bridal shower. Instead, she flew to Turkey and joined IS in Syria.

And according to the FBI, there could be more recruits.

Greg Boosalis, FBI division counsel in Minneapolis, said law enforcement was investigating the possible recruitment in the area by Islamist extremists of other females, as well as males, but refused to comment on specific cases.

“We are looking into the possibility of additional men and women travelers,” he said.

Somali leaders and sources close to police worry that the reports of female would-be jihadis from the region could mark a new trend.

The St. Paul woman is highly likely to have been recruited by ISIS through Islamist sympathizers in the United States, rather than joining the group on her own, they said. At least one other woman is suspected of helping her leave the United States.

And it's not just from the Twin Cities Somali community. They're being recruited from all over the U.S. John McAuthor McCain, who was killed a few months back in Syria, was a Muslim convert from San Diego. And then this young woman from Colorado.

Another U.S. teenager, nurse's aide Shannon Conley, 19, from Colorado, pleaded guilty this week to trying to travel to the Middle East to enroll in ISIS. She was arrested at Denver International Airport in April with a one-way ticket and had been recruited online by a male militant in Syria.

And that's just the ones we actually hear about. How many more have just slipped away without being detected.

If they're not killed over there, which one could only hope for, they better not be allowed back into this country.

More here.