Twice-failed Willmar City Council candidate and anti-refugee, anti-Muslim activist Bob Enos is certain Minneapolis' new hate crime hotline was created solely to help Mayor Betsy Hodges woo Somali voters in the city's upcoming mayoral election.
Oh really? Here's Libor Jany's article, Minneapolis launches hate-crime hot line, that set Enos off:
The city of Minneapolis has set up a hot line for residents to report hate-crime incidents and other acts of intolerance.
The service, operated through the city's 311 help line, is aimed to aid targets of any "harassing behaviors motivated by prejudice," according to a city news release issued on Monday.
The announcement comes amid signs of a recent surge of such incidents affecting Muslims and Jews across the country, many of which go unreported.
"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."
The City Council last fall passed a resolution condemning violence and hate speech against Muslims.
Callers in Minneapolis can access the service through the city's 311 hot line, which is staffed between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on weekdays and between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on weekends.
Anyone calling from outstate must dial 612-673-3000.
Incidents may also be reported to the Department of Justice at 612-664-5600.
Mr. Enos was upset by that, drafting a letter to the Strib that he shared with his 78 friends on Facebook and the world:
I've submitted the following opinion to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Of course, I don't expect it to be printed, so here goes: "Free speech has never been a crime under the US Constitution, hateful or otherwise.
My search of the Minneapolis Star Tribune's stories printed since January 1, 2017 lists but one ALLEGED hate crime against Muslims and lists NOT ONE single hate crime against Jews.
This new hate speech hotline is nothing but a red herring, designed to ingratiate Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges to the growing Somali voting bloc. Hence, her photos donning Muslim burqua (sp?) garb.
All said, though, following the new logic, should not every Muslim cleric/imam in Minneapolis be reported for hate speech? After all, the Quran contains at least 109 verses which promote graphic violence against all non-believers; most especially Jews. So, is not any cleric who promotes the teachings of the Quran also promoting hate speech?
This enforcement of standards of speech that Minneapolis' Democratic leadership finds acceptable is Minneapolis' version of an intellectual Taliban, designed to stifle political discourse.
He added a photo of Mayor Hodges wearing a hijab, which he mistakenly calls a burka. Perhaps he should check out the BBC explainer (via 22 words), Not all headscarves are burkas: 7 types of Muslim headwear for women, although we wouldn't want to ladysplain too much for poor Bob.
Here's the screengrab of the moment:
Somebody needs better search skills
Bluestem has a sad over Mr. Enos' search engine skills, since our big city friends on Facebook had shared anti-Semitic images spray painted on snow and sidewalks, as well as articles from the Star Tribune (and its alt-weekly sister City Pages).
Take the February 17 article in the paper, University of Minnesota police investigate flier with two swastikas posted on campus:
University of Minnesota police are investigating the latest of several recent incidents involving anti-Semitic postings on the Minneapolis campus.
Social media on Friday captured the image of a flier taped to a pole inviting people to the neo-Nazi website the Daily Stormer.
The flier, marked with two swastikas, reads: “White man are you sick and tired of the Jews destroying your country through mass immigration and degeneration ... join us in the struggle for global white supremacy at the Daily Stormer.”
University officials said Friday that police are aware of the incident and are investigating.
Steve Hunegs, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas (JCRC), issued a statement Friday evening “condemning the hateful and anti-Semitic fliers posted around the University of Minnesota.”
“The fliers reference anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and call for people to join white-supremacist movements. ... We call on all people of goodwill to recoil at these ideologies and tactics,” the statement said. “We will remain vigilant in taking a stand against those who admire the atrocities of Nazism.”
On Thursday, University of Minnesota police arrested a student for allegedly vandalizing a public area of a residence hall with anti-Semitic graffiti.
The 18-year-old student from St. Cloud faces a charge of criminal damage to property, according to a police report, and university officials called the case a bias crime. The student allegedly drew a swastika on a desk in a public part of the 17th Avenue Residence Hall, where he lives.
The incident, reported to police on Feb. 7, is one of at least seven cases of anti-Semitic graffiti or propaganda reported to the university’s Bias Response and Referral Network since the beginning of December.
Last week, another student found a swastika and a picture of a concentration camp drawn on a white board inside his dorm room in Minneapolis.
“The University of Minnesota condemns all acts of hate on our campus,” a news release noted.
The JCRC recalled a similar incident in March 2016 where university printers and fax machines allegedly printed “anti-Semitic and racist fliers similar in content to what was posted today.”
“We urge anyone with information about the posting of the fliers to come forward,” the JCRC statement said. “We have every confidence that law enforcement will investigate this incident thoroughly.”
How did Mr. Enos miss that one, or the story in the Strib the day before, University of Minnesota student arrested in case of swastika graffiti:
. . .The 18-year-old student from St. Cloud faces a charge of criminal damage to property, according to a police report, and university officials called the case a bias crime. The student allegedly drew a swastika on a desk in a public part of the 17th Avenue Residence Hall, where he lives.
The incident reported to police on Feb. 7 is one of seven cases of anti-Semitic graffiti or propaganda reported to the university’s Bias Response and Referral Network since the beginning of December.
Thursday’s arrest occurred a week after another student found a swastika and a picture of a concentration camp drawn on a white board inside his room.
“The University of Minnesota condemns all acts of hate on our campus,” a news release noted.
This sort of thing isn't confined to the ivy tower, either. In May, the City Pages (owned by the Star Tribune) staff writer Cory Zurowski reported in Anti-Semitic and Islamophobic signs pasted on poles near Lake of the Isles:
On Thursday, a resident was enjoying the agreeable spring morning when she came upon a disconcerting sight. Affixed to light poles on the northwest side of the lake along a paved trail were anti-Semitic and Islamophobic stickers.
"Fuck Jews" read one. The other had a hand giving the middle finger and the word "Islam" below it.
She summarily took down the stickers and contacted Councilwoman Lisa Goodman, telling her, "I was so shocked. I don’t think I have ever seen anything like that in Minneapolis."
As of late Thursday afternoon, neither the Minneapolis Police Department nor the Park Police had received report of the incident.
At the bottom of the Islamophobic sticker listed a website: tightrope.cc.
"It's not illegal to be white… yet!" reads tightrope's main page.
The site is a one-stop shop for all goodies intolerant, from the "Racist Joke Book" to "White Lives Matter" stickers to KKK hats.
"I represent downtown where there can be many forms of free speech in various venues and I've seen my fair share of hateful and hopeful messages," Goodman tells City Pages. "Given I am Jewish, seeing these messages is hurtful personally, but a reminder of how much work still needs to be done by many to encourage tolerance and respectful dialogue about our differences."
Councilwoman Goodman also owns a small weekend place in Kandiyohi County, so perhaps she'll school Mr. Enos about the need to encourage tolerance and respectful dialogue about our differences.
Head to the City Pages if you want to see the awful artwork.
Screengrabs: Willmar's best-known anti-Muslim activist having the fantods about something in Minneapolis of which he knows very little.
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