DAVID MARCUS: Sorry Omar Fateh, we're not doing Somali-run no-go zones in Minnesota
In a chilling series of social media posts on Saturday night, Minnesota state senator and former Minneapolis mayoral candidate Omar Fateh pledged to make the Cedar Riverside neighborhood of his city a "no-go zone for white supremacists."
"No-go zone" is a term popularized in Europe that refers to Muslim-majority neighborhoods where it is not safe for White people to go.
The X posts began with Fateh and two other men standing before the iconic Cedar Riverside towers with the message, "Cedar Strong. White Supremacists aren’t welcome here. We protect our own."
A bit shocked by the sentiment, I quote-posted the senator to remind him Americans can enter any neighborhood they want to, writing, "You don’t decide who is and isn’t welcome anywhere. We don’t allow ‘no-go zones.’"
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To this, Fateh doubled down, responding, "This is a No-Go zone for white supremacists," adding an angry emoji for emphasis.
The first and obvious question here is, what does Fateh mean by "white supremacist." But before we get to that, let’s be clear, if somebody wants to don full Nazi regalia and walk up and down the sidewalk in Little Mogadishu, Minnesota, while doing the John Cleese funny Hitler walk, they can.
This is a free country and one of our most cherished freedoms is expression. It is long established not just legally, but socially in America, that as abhorrent as Nazis are, they still have rights.
But let’s not be naive. Omar Fateh is not talking about the Ku Klux Klan or even the Proud Boys here. He is almost certainly talking about anyone who supports President Donald Trump and the operations of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the Twin Cities.
Fateh and his Democratic colleagues in Minnesota, such as Gov. Tim Walz, Mayor Jacob Frey and Rep. Ilhan Omar, have painted the fully legal ICE actions in the Land of 10,000 Lakes as racism, again and again and again.
Many of these same so-called leaders have hurled accusations of racism against journalists like Nick Shirley, who have exposed a largely Somali fraud scandal that federal prosecutors say took more than $9 billion away from needy children and senior citizens. One can perhaps understand why Fateh would want a No-Nick-Shirley-Zone to protect the corrupt among his constituents.
On Saturday afternoon in Minneapolis, pro-Trump counter protesters were physically assaulted as they tried to make their voices heard. One man was threatened with violence if he didn't take off his American flag sweatshirt, in frigid temperatures.
In America.
This is abject madness, bordering on total chaos, and what is Fateh’s response? To pour fuel on the fire by promising similar treatment to any pro-ICE person who dares enter his Somali-run no-go zone.
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Does anyone doubt for even half a second that a MAGA hat, or at this point, even an American flag itself, would be considered "White supremacy" by Fateh and his ilk?
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What percentage of Americans do Fateh and his buddies think are White supremacists? Millions? And if so, by what authority have they simply decided those people aren’t allowed in this neighborhood?
Who is going to enforce this no-go zone? Will it have its own militia? A small Somali standing army in the Midwest? This is craziness.
Everybody, but especially Democrats, need to be crystal clear in saying to Fateh that European-style no-go zones will not be tolerated in America. We long ago did away with shameful "sunset towns" where Black people could not venture after dark. We will not allow Fateh to bring that horrid practice back.
This is just further evidence that leadership of the Somali community in Minnesota has no interest in assimilation. They want a semi-autonomous area that they control. Not only is that not how America works, it also harms the futures of those they represent.
Fateh and Omar would have their constituents believe that the broader rules of America, including our democratically enacted immigration laws, simply do not apply to them. It's a recipe for disaster.
Americans are not going to be told that there are neighborhoods in their own nation which they may not enter. That might fly in Cologne or Copenhagen, but not in the United States. Omar Fateh needs to figure this out before he gets more people hurt or killed.