ST. CLOUD – Haji Yusuf was shopping at a grocery store here when he saw a white woman accuse the East African immigrants in the checkout lane of belonging to an Islamic terrorist group.
“Get out of our country! I don’t want you here!” he recalled her saying.
Members of the surging African population in the St. Cloud area have reported some disturbing encounters with longtime locals, from classmates trying to pull off their hijabs to shouts that they should return to their homeland. Four Minnesota legislators were among about 100 people who met last week to discuss what they believe is the threat of sharia law to U.S. law and culture.
Amid growing racial tensions, Gov. Mark Dayton is seeking $180,000 in legislative funding to improve a satellite office of the Minnesota Department of Human Rights at St. Cloud’s City Hall. The state now sends an enforcement officer from St. Paul one day a month to hold office hours.
