Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara apologized to the Somali community for a comment he made connecting “East African kids” to crime.

“The Somali community here in Minneapolis has been welcoming and has shown love towards me, and I appreciate it,” O’Hara said at a news conference on Thursday. “Over the last three years we have been working together to try and address some of the real serious problems that we have in our community.”

“We have to be honest at times with the problems that we’re having in our community, and we need our community to help us fix those problems together because it’s real and it’s serious. At the same time, if people have taken anything that I have said out of context in a way that’s caused harm, I apologize, and I’m sorry for that because that’s not my intention at all,” O’Hara added.

In an interview with WCCO earlier this month, O’Hara was speaking about a deadly Halloween shooting as well as juvenile crime plaguing the city when he made the comment. Alpha News reported that the Dinkytown area, where the shooting took place, has seen a series of crimes including assaults, robberies, shootings and auto thefts.

TRUMP TERMINATES DEPORTATION PROTECTIONS FOR SOMALI NATIONALS LIVING IN MINNESOTA ‘EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY’

During the interview, he stated that the young people committing the crimes were not “poor kids from Minneapolis,” but rather kids that come from out of town who take “mommy’s Mercedes-Benz to Dinkytown, and they don’t know where they are.”

“Groups of kids, groups of East African kids that are coming from surrounding communities and not just one community, kind of all over the place,” O’Hara told WCCO.

After the interview, a petition on Change.org demanded an apology from O’Hara, saying that the East African community of Minneapolis “has already been carrying the weight of unfair scrutiny for years” and that the chief’s comment would “deepen that burden.”

The Minneapolis Somali community has faced scrutiny on a national level in recent days after a bombshell report revealed a series of alleged financial schemes that ended with terrorists getting taxpayer dollars. Ryan Thorpe and Christopher F. Rufo of the Manhattan Institute found that Al-Shabaab, an al Qaeda-linked terrorist organization in Somalia, was receiving funds that could be traced back to Minnesota.

“Every scrap of economic activity, in the Twin Cities, in America, throughout Western Europe, anywhere Somalis are concentrated, every cent that is sent back to Somalia benefits Al-Shabaab in some way,” a former official who worked on the Minneapolis Joint Terrorism Task Force told Thorpe and Rufo.

Following the report, President Donald Trump announced he was ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Somalis in Minnesota. 

The Secretary of Homeland Security may designate a country for TPS if nationals cannot return safely or if the country “is unable to handle the return of its nationals adequately.” Countries currently under TPS are Burma, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Haiti, Lebanon, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Venezuela and Yemen.

“Minnesota, under Governor Waltz, is a hub of fraudulent money laundering activity. I am, as President of the United States, hereby terminating, effective immediately the Temporary Protected Status (TPS program) for Somalis in Minnesota. Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great State, and BILLIONS of dollars are missing. Send them back to where they came from. It’s OVER!,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Rufo, one of the authors of the bombshell report, said Trump’s announcement was a “great start” but that there is still more work to do.

“Canceling TPS for Minnesota Somalis is a great start. Next: review all asylum, refugee, and citizenship applications for any hint of fraud or technical error; then initiate denaturalizations and mass deportations up to the furthest limits of the law. They have to go home,” Rufo wrote on X.

MINNESOTA TAXPAYER DOLLARS FUNNELED TO AL-SHABAAB TERROR GROUP, REPORT ALLEGES

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn, who praised Trump’s decision, wrote a letter on Friday to U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota Daniel Rosen demanding an investigation. The letter was also signed by Emmer’s fellow Minnesota Republicans, Rep. Pete Stauber, Rep. Michelle Fischbach, and Rep. Brad Finstad.

“It is alleged that Minnesota’s Somali community, the largest in the nation, has been sending millions back to Somalia via the hawala network, an informal money trafficking network which is notorious for funds ending up in terrorist networks, and in this instance, Al-Shabaab,” the letter reads.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

The lawmakers cited the various cases involving members of the Somali community, including the Feeding our Future fraud scheme, fraud in the Housing Stabilization Services program, Child Care Assistance program and Minnesota’s Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention program.

“It is bad enough that these individuals are defrauding our state, taking services and funds away from children and the most vulnerable, but now there is a good reason to believe that Minnesota taxpayer dollars are going straight into terrorists’ hands. These new allegations present not only a serious betrayal of taxpayer trust, but also a grave threat to our national security,” the letter states.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Walz’s office for comment.

The hole and the wink aren’t related. Not really. 

Well, maybe. 

OK, they are. 

Just not how you think. And not how you want. 

There is cause-and-effect. There is coincidence.  

What happened at Ford Field on Thursday, Nov. 27, when the Green Bay Packers benefited from the officials’ mistake – or two – also exposed the Detroit Lions. 

Again. 

JEFF SEIDEL: Just how gritty are Detroit Lions? We’ll find out in December

The Lions haven’t been good enough this season – in the trenches, on the margins – and it’s jarring, as reality so often is.  

On Thursday, they couldn’t pressure the quarterback, they couldn’t protect their own quarterback when they absolutely needed to. They couldn’t convert on third-and-short or fourth-and-short, and Green Bay could – and did. 

The difference in the game, said the man who winked – Packers coach Matt LaFleur. The difference in the game, said the man who mentioned the “hole” – Lions coach Dan Campbell.  

We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn More ›

Walmart’s Black Friday Event just dropped a fresh wave of Milwaukee tool deals, and the savings are some of the strongest we’ve seen outside of the holiday season. Whether you’re upgrading worn-out batteries or investing in pro-level power tools, the markdowns on Milwaukee’s most popular M18 lineup—including kits, high-output batteries, and jobsite must-haves. Our favorite deal is the Milwaukee M18 REDLITHIUM XC5.0 Battery Starter Kit for just $129 (was $397!), which includes two 5.0Ah batteries and an M18/M12 charger for less than the cost of a single battery at full price.

These early deals make it easy to stock up before winter projects kick off or holiday gift lists start piling up. From high-capacity FORGE batteries to a versatile 2-tool combo kit packed with torque and runtime, Walmart is serving up big-name Milwaukee gear at true Black Friday pricing, weeks ahead of schedule.

This bundle includes two XC5.0 batteries and an M18/M12 charger, giving you a reliable power source for nearly any Milwaukee tool in your lineup. At $129, it’s an exceptional value, especially considering the batteries alone usually cost far more than this kit.

Precise, powerful, and easy to handle. This Milwaukee M12 tool slices through tile, PVC, and sheet metal with a reversible blade and adjustable guard for control and safety on the job or for DIY projects.

This bit set includes precision-machined bits built to withstand the torque of impact drivers. It’s durable storage case keeps every piece organized and job-ready.

More Milwaukee Black Friday Deals at Walmart

Batteries & Charging

Grinders & Cut-Off Tools

Drills & Impact Drivers

Impact Wrenches & Ratchets

Saws

Bit Sets & Accessories

Other Tools