Minnesota news anchor claims ‘stereotyping’ is the real problem with Somali gang violence

KARE11 anchor Jana Shortal said in a segment earlier this week dedicated to combating so-called stereotyping, "So we have spent a lot of time lately talking about gun violence across the Twin Cities, and police are now saying the handful that have happened in the West Metro have some connections. I'm talking about the shooting on the basketball courts at Our Lady of Grace and Edina, and the shooting at the Eden Prairie football game, and a couple more shootings at Eden Prairie and Bloomington. Some of these, police say, are the work of gangs, and the members of those gangs, they say, are Somali American teens and young adults."

"But when some people just say Somali gangs, that leaves a mark on hundreds of thousands of Somali people who have nothing to do with gangs or these shootings, and we have to talk about that," Shortal added.

The segment went on to show a Somali man at the Edina city meeting about gun violence taking place in Minnesota. "Every time we hear that Somali gangs—gangs are gangs. So please, let's not mention the Somali name."

In the segment, a Sheriff's Deputy, who also happens to be Somali, counted the point and said, "Just being honest doesn't mean we're targeting or stereotyping our community. We need this to stop."

Some said in response that the segment was essentially a production of the Norm Macdonald meme where he said in 2016, "What terrifies me is if ISIS were to detonate a nuclear device and kill 50 million Americans. Imagine the backlash against peaceful Muslims?"

There have been several shootings recently in the Twin Cities involving Somali gangs, including one that led to the cancellation of a high school's homecoming dance when the shooting took place at a football game.