Alright – so, Dave Hutchinson become sheriff in Hennepin County (the largest in Minnesota) defeating Stanek with less than 0.44% or about 2,300 votes. This was not a landslide win by any stretch of the word. How did he win? two words; community outreach. Hutchinson campaigned on building bridges, bringing communities together, and representing underserved folks who have been marginalized. All commendable and sounded good during an election. I remember him coming to one Somali event with some guy who kept telling us (the audience) to vote for him because he was going to hire Somalis in positions of power and was going to treat our community fair and kind.
Shortly after taking office, Hutchinson took away the transparency portion of the county by encrypting radio information. In other words, let’s hide from the public what is happening at the Sheriff’s office. Why you ask? good question for the guy who run on transparency and accountability. This was apparently a surprise to some county commissioners. What now?
He also released his annual 2019 report which highlighted community engagement and outreach. Yep. How lovely.
Fast forward to the end of December 2020, with the Sheriff Hutchinson’s blessing, his officers’ stormed into this family’s home and traumatized a small child with a disability after they killed his brother and harassed their entire family. Now you ask; where is the outrage from our community? where are all those people telling folks to vote for him because he was going to be kind and compassionate.
You see we reap who we vote for. I am profoundly disappointed in this Sheriff’s response to this child who clearly (anyone who watched that horrifying video could see) was scared and did not understand what was happening. But I am livid and pissed at those from our community who do not understand policy from poop and allow our votes to be taken for granted.
Above words do not reflect any candidate, agency, or committee.
Idil – Somali Autism Mom