Somali-American Uber driver brutally attacked in alleged hate crime in Minnesota | Minnesota

A Somali-American Uber driver was allegedly brutally attacked by a passenger in Hopkins, Minnesota, on Saturday in what his family said “appears to be a hate crime.”

The driver, Mohamed Yusuf, is currently hospitalized and fighting for his life, his family told Somali Brief, a digital news site run by two Somali American journalists. The driver’s cousin, Abdinasir Ali, told the outlet that the alleged attack happened early Saturday after a passenger in Hopkins, a suburban city southwest of Minneapolis, asked Yusuf’s name and then said he didn’t like Mohamed’s name.

The passenger then allegedly strangled the driver from behind, took control of the car and used it to assault the driver. “He was hit several times with his own vehicle,” Yusuf’s son Mustafa Osman told Somali Brief.

The seriously injured driver was later found “a mile and a half off the road, in a ditch,” with broken legs and ribs, two collapsed lungs and a spinal injury, his son said.

The Hopkins Police Department said in a statement it was investigating the assault after officers responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle at 1:20 a.m. Saturday.

“Officers located an adult suspect nearby and took him into custody,” police said. They noted that preliminary information indicates the incident involved an interaction with an Uber rideshare and that the investigation was still ongoing.

“This is a pure hate crime,” a member of Yusuf’s family at the hospital told Somali Brief. “Our politicians have created this hostile environment.”

The alleged assault comes after Donald Trump made racist rhetoric and lies about Somali Americans in Minnesota the focus of his midterm campaign rallies, and the president’s inflammatory claims were echoed by Minnesota Republicans.

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota recently said on a conservative podcast, “I basically have the Somali Civil War going on in the state of Minnesota. »

The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (Cair-MN), community leaders, elected officials and rideshare driver groups were planning a news conference Monday at Hennepin County Medical Center to demand justice.

“Mohamed Yusuf should be home safe with his family, not fighting for his life after an attack fueled by hatred towards his Somali identity,” Minnesota State Senator Omar Fateh said in a statement on social media. “We need answers and an immediate, transparent investigation.”

SEIU Local 26, a local union that organizes rideshare drivers, said in a social media post about the alleged attack: “We are shocked, angered and saddened by the news of the alleged attack that took place this weekend against Mohamed, a Minnesota and Uber driver.

A GoFundMe created in the name of Yusuf and his family has already raised more than $140,000. “As a result of this senseless attack, he was seriously injured and is now in a coma, fighting for his life,” the family wrote in the appeal for financial assistance.

“We are shocked and horrified by the details of this senseless attack,” an Uber spokesperson said in an email.

“We have banned the passenger from the Uber platform, and we are keeping the driver and his loved ones in our thoughts. We stand ready to assist law enforcement in their investigation.”