When the Minnesota Daily publishes a column like Lolla Mohammed NurâÄôs Dec. 6 column âÄúSomalis react to FBI âÄòterror plotâÄô âÄù it gives fire to the paranoid, conspiracy theorists and enablers of chaos. It simply doesnâÄôt solve any other purpose.
Mohammed Nur writes about the Somali communityâÄôs likely mistrust of law enforcement agencies and a lack of cooperation on their part following the fiasco at Portland, Ore. But little does she know other things that are more likely to cause mistrust and give rise to conspiracy theories are columns like the one she wrote.
From the facts I gathered from the New York Times, CNN and other trusted media entities, I didnâÄôt hear about the Somali community complaining about his arrest. Yes, there are people who doubt the constitutionality of the stings like the one Mohamed Osman Mohamud got involved in, but there is a reason these operations are called intelligence operations âÄî they require a certain level of intellect.
IâÄôm sure FBI agents didnâÄôt wake up one day and say to themselves, âÄúlet us go and frame a Somali teenager for committing Jihad.âÄù They got a tip from his own father, just like the paternal figure in Nigeria who warned U.S. agencies of his sonâÄôs attempted crotch-bombing December 2009. All this article does is cause chaos and paints the FBI as the wrong-doers, which they clearly arenâÄôt.