Somali-American Community Concerned After Ohio State Attack

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Last month, a student at Ohio State University ran into people with a car and stabbed them with a knife. The victims survived, but police shot and killed the attacker, Abdul Razak Ali Artan, at the place the incident happened.

Since then, members of the Muslim community have been trying to understand what made Artan carry out such violence. Artan was a Somali refugee who came to the U.S. with his family in 2014.

He had been a successful student. He earned honors at a local community college before going to Ohio State, one of America's largest universities.

Officials at the mosque¹ near the family's home say Artan was not well-known to them. They add that they are concerned that others may judge the entire community by the actions of one young man.

Concerns increase in the local Muslim community

Robert Fitrakis is a lawyer representing Artan's family. He describes how the family fears the political climate in the United States. "I'm not sure they want their face on camera," he says.

Mohamud Mohamed Ahmed is a member of the Muslim community at Abubakar Assiddiq mosque in Columbus.

"I've been in this country 25 years, so we are Americans, but we are Muslim, too. We should not be viewed as people who came from another planet. We are not aliens. We are citizens of this country."

The issue of refugees and migration² has become an important political issue in the United States.

Supporters of strict immigration policy say the attack shows the danger that immigrants, or refugees, could present.

Earlier this month, for example, President-elect Trump³ said the attack at Ohio State University was "yet one more tragic⁴ reminder⁵ that immigration security is now national security."

However, refugee resettlement supporters point to the need to help people from conflict areas around the world.

Becca Heller is the director of the International Refugee Assistance Project. She criticized the words used by Trump in an interview with NPR news.

"That rhetoric⁶ has had an impact. Trump has been successful in politicizing refugee admissions in a way that they have not been politicized before."

The number of refugees admitted to the United States has increased since 2002. However, the number of refugees admitted to the U.S reached "historically low levels" in the year following the September 11 attacks in 2001.

A report by Congressional Research Services, or CRS, says that 27,131 refugees were allowed into the country in that year.

The number of refugees admitted in 2017 could reach 110,000, the CRS report says.

Any possible changes to immigration and refugee policy remain unclear as the Trump administration begins on January 20.

I'm John Russell.

Words in This Story

honors – n. plural⁷ special credit or recognition given to students who have successfully done work at a high level

strict – adj. used to describe a command, rule, etc., that must be obeyed

rhetoric – n. formal often disapproving⁸ : language that is intended to influence people and that may not be honest or reasonable

politicize – v. disapproving : to relate (an idea, issue, etc.) to politics in a way that makes people less likely to agree