On Jan. 7 an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Nicole Good, 37, during an immigration enforcement operation along a residential street in Minneapolis. Good was reportedly acting as a legal observer monitoring and documenting ICE activities in the city, home to the largest Somali community in the U.S.
The ICE surge in Minneapolis, the largest to date for the agency, involving more than 2,000 agents, was reportedly in part a response by the Trump White House to news of widespread fraud targeting public funds allegedly perpetrated by Somali migrants. Trump has repeatedly maligned Somali Americans, calling them “garbage” and insisting he does not want them in the country.
Mohamud Yussuf is a Somali-born journalist and the founder of Runta, a digital news platform serving the Somali American community in Seattle. He says the current rhetoric coming out of the White House recalls the language of violence and genocide in countries like Rwanda and later Somalia. He spoke with ACoM Editor Peter Schurmann. (This interview has been edited for length and clarity)
What was your reaction when you first heard about the shooting of Renee Nicole Good?
It was very shocking. When this broke out, at first, I thought one of my community was involved. Later I learned a young activist who had been trying to support our community had been fatally shot. These days, the Somali community has become a target for simply trying to achieve the American Dream like others who came before us. Now we are living in a nightmare.
Trump has repeatedly made disparaging remarks about Somalis and Somalia. How is this affecting your community?
It’s unimaginable. You think about the history of our region, of countries like Rwanda, when people were called cockroaches. Now we are called garbage. It is still fresh, the memory of that violence, the genocide. It was only 30 years ago. The killing, the massacres… people were targeted because of how they looked, because of their culture. I feel that kind of feeling now, but I never expected it would come from a country that advocates for human rights, advocates for democracy and equal rights, a model for freedom and democracy. I did not expect this would come from the U.S. And when I watch the comments, it is even more scary. People say, “Kick them out,” even if we are U.S. citizens. It is very, very scary. I am scared for my family, my community, everyone who looks like me.
Seattle is home to the second largest Somali community outside Minneapolis. How have residents there been impacted by Trump’s rhetoric and the broader immigration crackdown?
What’s happening in Minneapolis is also happening to a lesser degree in Seattle. Private individuals who call themselves influencers or activists come to Somali daycare centers, for example, where they film the owners, they harass them, and they ask them to see what is inside, who is there. It is affecting communities here and in Ohio, as well. These are vigilantes, people with cameras who go around harassing residents. That is wrong.
Headlines point to incidents of widespread fraud in Minnesota allegedly perpetrated by Somalis as the impetus for the ICE surge there. What are your thoughts on that?
I think Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey gave the best answer to that when he said that the financier and fraudster Bernie Madoff was Jewish. Imagine if every Jewish person in this country was targeted because of Bernie Madoff. So, yes, there are those who committed these scams and now they are serving time in jail. You can find these people in every culture, in every community. Overall, Somalis are hardworking, they are trying to achieve the American Dream. They live in this country proudly and peacefully. It is wrong to use the actions of a few to target an entire community.
You mentioned the phrase American Dream. How does all this change your view of the country?
I have a sister in Ohio. She is now not even thinking of staying here any longer. She is now a senior citizen; her children and grandchildren are all there. No one feels comfortable in this country anymore. If this can happen, from the highest leaders, it is scary.
What inspired you to start Runta?
I founded Runta in Nairobi in 1994. I was a Somali refugee in Kenya, part of the largest refugee community there at the time, and I wanted to use my skill as a journalist to bring balanced news to what was happening in Somalia and to bring hope to my community, which was homeless. Runta means Truth. Much of the news out of Somalia back then was biased. Voices would speak for this or that warlord, fueling violence like what happened in Rwanda. We were badly divided. Runta became a sort of beacon.
I came to the U.S. in 1996, landing in Seattle at 10 in the evening, snow on the ground. I didn’t even know what it was, all white. That was the night we arrived. I started all over again, working as a dishwasher, in meat packing facilities, I became a day laborer, a cab driver. I had my family with me… four children, one in the womb. But I tried not to give up on my career, so I started Runta again in June 2001, as the community here began to grow, with the intent to bring Somalis together.
Any parting thoughts you want to share?
History feels like it’s repeating. We have leaders who call other communities names, demonize them, advocate for their eviction. What comes next? Will they call for violence? Will they start shooting, the way they shot the young activist in Minneapolis? And if they can target her, who is next? If they could come after someone like that, an American, native, white, what could they do to us? I hope this passes, that we come to our senses, that America returns to the country we’ve known, the Beacon on the Hill, a country loved because of its fight for human rights and for democracy. But this America, right now, is not an America I thought I would ever see.
