Police are investigating two separate carjackings in Minneapolis that happened during the Labor day holiday late Monday afternoon. One of which targeted a prominent Somali community activist.
Officers responded at about 3:48 p.m. to the 2800 block of Franklin Avenue East on a report of an armed robbery and carjacking. Bihi says when he rolled down his window, the teen told him he was “here to collect.” When Bihi, asked “Collect what?”, the young teen responded by saying “your car”.
Bihi said several other teens surrounded his car and started pulling on the handles. That’s when the teen at his window pepper-sprayed him. At that point Bihi said he realized he was getting carjacked. He left the car with the keys in the ignition and went to look for help.
Later that evening afterwards, Officers observed the stolen vehicle in the area and a traffic stop was initiated. The vehicle fled the scene and the officer pursued.
After a brief high speed chase, the suspect hit a support column in front of the Courtyard by Marriott hotel on Washington Avenue South. Police took a juvenile boy into custody. The rest of the culprits reportdly fled on foot.
Its not clear if this car jacking was a random act of violence in an already crime hit city or a deliberate and premeditated attack on long time community activist Abdirizak Bihi.
Abdirizak Bihi became a prominent figure in Minnesota’s Somali community in 2007, after his teenage nephew Burhan became one of the first Somali-Americans to go overseas and fight among insurgents in Somalia and later die on the battle field.
18 year old Burhan was one of nearly two dozen Somali youth that left the Twin Cities between 2006 and 2009 to wage war against the US backed Ethiopian troops occupying there native Somalia at the time.
Following the death of his nephew, Abdirizak Bihi collaborated with both local and federal authorities in countering violent extremism and radicalization among Somali youth in the Minneapolis-St Paul area.
In 2012 Mr. Bihi testified during a hearing of the House Homeland Security Committee on Capital Hill in Washington DC on the extent of radicalization of American Muslims, aimed at addressing the alleged militancy plaguing Minnesota’s large Somali community.
Halgan Media.
