Fox News continues on its path to demonize the other. But this Police Chief would have none of it.
Minnesota Police Chief shows class
Fox News attempted to goad Minnesota Police Chief William Blair Anderson into scapegoating Somali immigrants after mall attack. They failed. The exchange says it all.
Steve Doocy (Co-host): So, Chief, as you listen to Donald Trump talking about — of course, he would like extreme vetting going forward. I know there are close to 6,000 Somalis who live in the St. Cloud area. Do you share his concern about who is coming into the country?
Police Chief William Blair Anderson: Well, first of all, my job is public safety. It’s not immigration policy. I can tell you that the vast majority of all of our citizens, no matter their ethnicity, are fine, hard-working people, and now is not the time for us to be divisive. We already have a very cohesive community, and I expect that this will draw us even closer together. But at the end of the day, our job is public safety, period.
Ainsley Earhardt (Co-host): Chief, how do you work with the Somalian community there? Do you stay in touch with the imams? Because since 2007, more than 20 young Somali men have traveled from Minnesota to Somalia to join the terrorist group Al Shabaab, and Minnesota leads the nation in the number of people who have left or sought to leave the country to go and fight terrorism — or terrorists aligned with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria as well. So, how do you fight this? Because it’s a mentality that they’re learning, many of them, behind closed doors.
Police Chief William Blair Anderson: We actually work very well not just with our East African community, but all of our community. We meet regularly with any number of people, whether they are advocates for a specific ethnicity or different cause. It’s one of things that makes St. Cloud a wonderful place to live, and I know that might sound corny, but it’s the truth. We have established and maintained a very good rapport with our East African community and our community at large.
Well done Chief.