A Minneapolis lawmaker who praised the speedy response he got from officials after he was carjacked has sparked a backlash from disgruntled locals who claim their own complaints are falling on deaf ears.
Jamal Osman, a Democrat city councilman in the Minnesota city, was accused of receiving preferential treatment after he posted about the crime on X on Tuesday.
The city councilman said he was in the middle of a call with his sister when he was ambushed by two ‘youths’ in a parking lot. The incident left him shaken but unharmed.
Osman said police responded quickly to his report and that he received a call from the chief of police Brian O’Hara and newly re-elected Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey shortly after the incident.
He also detailed how another family had been targeted in a similar attack.
‘Earlier in the evening, another victim and their child were also carjacked by what police believe to be the same suspects, described as two youths,’ Osman wrote.
‘My heart goes out to them – no one should have to experience this kind of trauma in our city,’ he continued.
However the post immediately drew criticism from Crime Watch Minneapolis, an account that tracks offenses in the city, which highlighted a report from another car jacking victim who claimed police did not even bother to come out to take the statement in person.
Minneapolis lawmaker Jamal Osman sparked backlash after praising police for quickly responding to the scene when he was carjacked while locals say their cases often go unanswered.
Crime Watch Minneapolis, an X account that tracks offenses in the city, slammed Osman for his response to the crime, and questioned whether he received preferential treatment
The account said their car was stolen from outside their home, but despite having a clear description of their vehicle and time it was stolen, ‘the police didn’t bother to come out and take the report’.
‘(The police took the report) over the phone and I don’t know what to do,’ the response continued.
‘I hate this city… I never had any problems like this in Atlanta. The crime here is out of control.’
‘Was Jamal’s case given priority that hasn’t been afforded to other residents and victims of crime?’ the account posted in response to Osman’s statement.
Osman said in his statement that while he was thankfully unharmed, ‘this incident is another reminder of the work ahead to keep all of our communities safe.’
The councilman turned replies to his post off, but was still flooded with similar complaints from other victims.
‘Mind posting their phone numbers for the rest of us victims to use?’ One constituent wrote. ‘We want the same level of service you received.’
‘The guys pulls rank, gets special attention from Mayor Frey not afforded to other crime victims, then publicly brags about it. What a complete douchebag,’ another wrote.
Osman, a city councilman in Minneapolis, acknowledged that the city has been experiencing too much crime in recent times, and his carjacking ‘is another reminder of the work ahead to keep all of our communities safe’
Many pointed out the apparent irony of Osman thanking officers, considering the defund the police movement which surged following the killing of George Floy in Minneapolis.
The Daily Mail has contacted Osman’s office, Frey’s office and the Minneapolis Police Department for comment.
According to official City of Minneapolis crime data, there have been a staggering 4,454 motor vehicle thefts in the city so far this year.
The number is a significant drop from the 5,914 car thefts at this same time last year, but the three-year average stands at over 6,000 per year.
In May Minneapolis Chief Brian O’Hara held a press conference in May to praise the methods his department has taken which he said is responsible for the decline.
‘I feel very confident that the strategies that we have in place are working because we have seen statistically significant declines since we enacted them,’ he said.
O’Hara acknowledged that carjackings ‘were up significantly’ for some time, which he said are intrinsically linked to other crimes in the area.
‘We had three teenagers shot in one week, one of them was murdered. Two of the three were shot while they were inside of a stolen car. So it’s a very clear connection between, you know, auto theft and joyriding and then these robberies and carjackings,’ he said at the time.
According to official City of Minneapolis crime data, there have been a staggering 4,454 motor vehicle thefts in the city so far this year
He continued: ‘We initiated a robbery response protocol where we saturate areas as soon as we can once we noticed these problems… and then even when we do have robbery sprees, there’s fewer robberies and carjackings reported.
‘We want to make sure that we’re doing everything we can at the time of the incident — whether it’s three o’clock in the morning, or three o’clock on a Monday afternoon — to ensure that we’re doing everything possible to build these cases as quickly as quickly as we can.’
