Somali-owned market vandalized in St. Cloud
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A Somali store owner in St. Cloud has told police his business was vandalized with graffiti that said, "Go Home".
This vandalism is the latest in a series of acts targeting Somalis in St. Cloud.
Grocery store owner Hared Jibril, who washed away the graffiti already, said he's concerned for his safety. He said this is the second time someone has harassed him: first with a phone call, and now with this graffiti.
"Before, four months ago somebody called for and [said], 'Go back to Africa.' The second time was, 'Go home,'" he said.
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Jibril moved to the United States from Somalia in 2001 and has owned the store since August.
In March, a local pastor posted an inflammatory anti-Islamic ad in the St. Cloud Times. Most recently, the U.S. Department of Education is investigating alleged complaints that the school district willingly ignored racial harassment against its Somali students by some white students, teachers, and staff.
The city has seen rapid demographic shift in the last decade with more immigrants from Somalia, Sudan, Liberia, and countries from Latin America.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
