Fake street signs are popping up around the twin cities region of Minneapolis-St. Paul in Minnesota after a Muslim Somali officer killed a yoga instructor last week, blaming the shooting on his being “startled,” possibly by a loud noise.
“WARNING: Twin Cities Police Easily Startled” read the orange signs with a depiction of a police officer discharging pistols with both hands.
Pictures of the signs have been posted on social media and Reddit, where one post has racked up over 700,000 views and front page exposure on the news aggregation site.
These are going up all over #MSP.https://t.co/anShl3Igsn pic.twitter.com/B7ZGraaVoL
— Brian the Cat Lord ☭ (@Vlad_451) July 24, 2017
West Bank Minneapolis pic.twitter.com/eJ6xh4PIHW
— Glistening✨✨✨ (@FranzDiego) July 23, 2017
“Whoever made this, I want to donate money to help you make more, and post more!” wrote local musician Astronautalis in a popular tweet.
WHOEVER MADE THIS, I WANT TO DONATE MONEY TO HELP YOU MAKE MORE, AND POST MORE! pic.twitter.com/4tGWQure03
— ASTRONAUTALIS! (@astronautalis) July 24, 2017
“Whoever is behind the signs spared no expense: They are made of metal, are painted professionally and were mounted on street poles using heavy duty screws, just as official signs are,” reports WTHR. “At this point there is no information on who may be behind the campaign.”
The circumstances surrounding the shooting are still under investigation, but details currently available have set off a firestorm of outrage after it was reported that Officer Mohamed Noor seems to have arbitrarily shot Australian national, Justine Damond, while both he and his partner’s body cameras were mysteriously turned off.
“Minneapolis police are required to turn on body cameras in more than a dozen situations — including traffic or suspicious-person stops, and prior to any use of force, according to the police department’s Policy and Procedure Manual,” reports NPR. “‘If a BWC [body-worn camera] is not activated prior to a use of force, it shall be activated as soon as it is safe to do so,’ reads the manual.”
It has been discovered that Noor, who comes from a family of Somali refugees, was not only recruited as an affirmative action diversity hire, but was also fast-tracked onto the force with only seven months of training under his belt at great cost to taxpayers under an “accelerated police cadet program.”
“The seven-month training is a quicker, nontraditional route to policing aimed at helping those who already have a college degree enter law enforcement,” reports the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. “The Minneapolis program covers tuition at Hennepin Technical College and pays trainees a $20-an-hour salary with benefits while they work to get licensed. After that their salary bumps up.”
Minneapolis mayor Betsy Hodges issued a public statement on Facebook lauding Noor’s entry onto the MPD force last year.
Hodges’ post includes photos of Noor surrounded by women in full Islamic garb, replete with Sharia-compliant hijabs – an outfit which Hodges has favored herself on more than one occasion.
Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges wearing hijab with men holding up Arabic Tawhid, the ISIS salute.
These aren't refugees their soldiers! pic.twitter.com/4dg47tLLrq— Doug Sides (@DougSides) July 23, 2017
🆘‼️😯🔥 #USA: #Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges showing support for #Sharia Law by wearing a #hijab! pic.twitter.com/yZVMx3KzDd
— Onlinemagazin (@OnlineMagazin) July 21, 2017
Noor has already accumulated three formal complaints in his short career, two of which are still open, including a pending lawsuit.
He has refused to speak to investigators thus far, and strangely has not been compelled to do so, instead choosing to relay his side of the story through friends, who say he feels he is “being thrown under the bus” by his colleagues because he is “an immigrant, a Muslim and not white… but that is OK as I know the Somalian community and friends will support me.”
Justine Damond, a 40-year-old yoga instructor, was shot in the abdomen on July 15 by Noor after she placed an emergency call to 911 to report a possible sexual assault taking place behind the residence she shared with her fiancee.
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