Dozens brave Fargo rain to protest bigotry, hate speech

A few dozen people braved steady rain to attend a rally against intolerance Wednesday evening in Fargo.

The event, which attracted more than 100 area residents, was organized by the group North Dakota United Against Hate "to emphasize that hate has no place in our community."

They were responding to recent physical and verbal assaults on immigrants in the community. A Somali man was assailed by men shouting racial epithets as he moved into an apartment last month.

And the city recently drew widespread attention when a video of a white woman threatening to kill Somali women during a parking lot confrontation went viral. The women later met and reconciled.

Hukun Abdullahi helped organize Wednesday's rally as a way to bring community members together.

"And we want to stand against any bigotry, any hate against one another. So we want to show the community here in Fargo and the world, too, that anything can happen, but we are always one community," said Abdullahi, executive director of the Afro American Development Association, a Fargo-Moorhead nonprofit that assists refugees and immigrants.

Barry Nelson, a member of the city of Fargo's Human Relations Commission, hears about incidents of religious or racial intolerance often, and he said it's important to show support for the growing immigrant community in North Dakota's largest city, and to take a visible stand against intolerance.

"We do want to raise the awareness as this kind of thing is happening that North Dakota nice does have a dark underbelly to it. And that's the kind of thing we need to speak up against," said Nelson. "And we all have a role in doing that."

More community discussions and events are planned.