Minnesota: St. Cloud city council squelches citizen revolt over refugees

Source: City uses ‘dirty play’ to squelch citizen revolt over refugees

What happened at the St. Cloud, Minnesota, City Council on Monday night is being described as a well-organized “ambush” designed to shut down a citizen uprising or “pocket of resistance” against runaway refugee resettlement in the small city.

College-age students filled the council chambers. Only five people were allowed to approach the podium and speak, all of them in favor of unlimited refugee resettlement with no accountability to the taxpayer.

A resolution was hastily introduced, read and voted on.

Mission accomplished.

The ambush was successful.

And the local Somali community is now celebrating.

It all started when several of the council members who support unlimited refugee resettlement with no financial accountability to the taxpayer were informed that one of their colleagues, Councilman Jeff Johnson, planned to introduce a resolution at their Nov. 6 meeting calling for a moratorium on all resettlements in St. Cloud until an economic impact study could be completed.

Johnson’s resolution would also require the city to verify that it is in full compliance with all facets of the federal Refugee Act of 1980 as signed by then-president Jimmy Carter.

But Johnson’s opponents, clearly having collaborated among themselves beforehand, sprung a new resolution on the public at the Monday, Oct. 23, meeting and passed it 5-1 after begrudgingly allowing only a few minutes of debate.

The efforts by Johnson to support financial accountability were undercut before they were even heard in a public forum.

Councilman Jeff Goerger made sure of it. His “Resolution in Support of a Just and Welcoming Community” states that the city will not make any effort to investigate or audit the federal refugee program that has transformed the city’s demographics over the past decade and loaded up its welfare system with Third Worlders, most of them from the failed state of Somalia that has been bogged down in perpetual civil war for nearly three decades and continues to ship its citizens to Western democracies in Europe, Canada and the United States by the tens of thousands every year.

After six more Somali youths were caught trying to leave the state to join ISIS, Minnesota’s Obama-appointed U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger admitted at a press conference on April 20, 2015, that “We have a terror recruiting problem in Minnesota.”

Then, just over a year later, the terrorism came home to St. Cloud itself, when 21-year-old Nadir Adan, a Somali refugee, carried out a knife attack at the Crossroads Center mall, injuring 10 people, two critically, after asking many of his victims if they were Muslims. Those who said no got stabbed.

That may have been St. Cloud’s crossroads moment. Instead of taking the threat seriously, they backed off and swallowed the propaganda of the Council on American-Islamic Relations and Lutheran Social Services, which rakes in millions of dollars by resettling Somali Muslims in the state.

It was clear on whose side the council members, other than Jeff Johnson, were standing at Monday’s meeting.

“I think it’s important to show people this one guy bringing forth a resolution is not the voice of the city council or the voice of the people in our community,” said Councilman Jeff Goerger, who introduced the “Welcoming and Just City” resolution before his colleague’s resolution could be introduced and voted on.

Goerger stated, to a resounding applause, that the city has absorbed the thousands of Somalis “without an impact on the city budget or our quality of life.”

The families of the 10 people stabbed at the mall by Dahir Adan last year might disagree with that “quality of life” remark. And what about the family of 20-year-old Davee Duvose, who was stabbed to death at a house party by Somali refugee Muhiyahdim Mohamed Hassan in July 2015? Their quality of life will no doubt never be the same.

…

Nearly 350 people showed up for Monday night’s meeting in an environment that some described as “chaotic,” with many holding signs and shouting down those with whom they disagreed. Some of the signs stated “Welcome Refugees!” and “We are one community! Don’t divide us!” Other signs stated “Save our city” and “Stop refugees now.”

“They tried to shut down discussion because they didn’t want Jeff [Johnson] to speak at all,” said Ron Branstner, who was at the meeting. “People were yelling, ‘Don’t let him speak!’ and ‘He’s out of order!’ The president of city council [Carol Lewis] did not want him to speak.”

And as the link above describes the meeting,  St. Cloud isn’t a welcoming city:

The St. Cloud Times article covering last night’s meeting showed a picture of Councilman Johnson surrounded by 5-7 Somali men. The caption for the Times’ photo read “St. Cloud City Council member Jeff Johnson talks with community leaders following a council meeting Monday, October 23, at city hall.” Dr. Palmer, a professor emeritus at St. Cloud State, issued a statement about what he saw happening. Dr. Palmer’s statement said “The Times’ article has a photo of Jeff surrounded. For the record, I was in the first row of the bleachers, directly behind where the city administrator sits. I was talking with a few people at the end of the council meeting when I noticed that Jeff was surrounded by 5 to 7 Somalian men. It appeared they were badgering Jeff and had him cornered. Fearing for his safety, I walked through the crowd and approached him, saying “Dr. Johnson, I need to talk to you right now.” I reached toward him and took his hand, saying let’s move near the door to talk. That is when I noticed the police officer and he was urging Jeff to go through the door. Once we were outside the Council Chamber, the officer asked that we move into the conference room located directly behind the chambers. When Jeff and I finished our conversation, the two officers in the conference room offered to escort Jeff and I to our cars. The uniformed officer previously told me that several of the men who surrounded Jeff were of concern. I think the officer was concerned for Jeff’s safety.”

This incident raises questions that can’t be ignored, though I’m certain that Mayor Kleis and the 5 ostriches that voted for Goerger’s resolution would rather ignore what happened.