A Somali-American Uber driver was allegedly brutally assaulted by a passenger in Hopkins, Minnesota, on Saturday, in what his family says “appears to be a hate crime”.
The driver, Mohamed Yusuf, is currently hospitalized and fighting for his life, his family told the Somali Brief, a digital news site run by two Somali American journalists. The driver’s cousin, Abdinasir Ali told the outlet that the alleged attack took place early Saturday after a passenger in Hopkins, a suburban city south-west of Minneapolis, asked Yusuf’s name and then said he did not like the name Mohamed.
The passenger allegedly then choked the driver from behind, took control of the car and used it to assault the driver. “He was run over multiple times with his own vehicle,” Yusuf’s son, Mustafa Osman, told the Somali Brief.
The badly injured driver was later found “a mile down the road in a ditch”, with broken legs and ribs, two collapsed lungs and a spinal injury, his son said.
The Hopkins police department said in a statement they are investigating the assault after officers responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle at 1.20am on Saturday.
“Officers located an adult male suspect nearby and took him into custody,” the police department stated. They noted preliminary information indicates the incident involved an Uber ride share interaction and that the investigation remains ongoing.
“This is a pure hate crime,” one member of Yusuf’s family at the hospital told the Somali Brief. “Our politicians created this hostile environment.”
The alleged assault comes after Donald Trump made racist rhetoric and lies about Somali Americans in Minnesota a central focus of his midterm campaign rallies, and the president’s inflammatory claims have been echoed by Minnesota Republicans.
House majority whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota, recently said on a conservative podcast: “I’ve got basically the Somali civil war that’s come to the state of Minnesota.”
The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (Cair-MN), community leaders, elected officials and ride-share driver groups were planning a press conference on Monday at the Hennepin County Medical Center to call for justice.
“Mohamed Yusuf should be home safe with his family, not fighting for his life after an attack fueled by hatred towards his Somali identity,” said Omar Fateh, a state senator in Minnesota, in a statement on social media. “We need answers and an immediate and transparent investigation.”
SEIU Local 26, a local labor union that organizes rideshare drivers, said in a social media post on the alleged attack: “We are shocked, angered and saddened by the news of the alleged attack that happened this weekend on Mohamed, a Minnesotan and Uber driver.”
A GoFundMe created on behalf of Yusuf and his family has already raised over $140,000. “As a result of this senseless assault, he suffered severe injuries and is now in a coma, fighting for his life,” the family wrote in the appeal for financial support.
“We are shocked and horrified by the details of this senseless attack,” a spokesperson for Uber said in an email.
“We banned the rider from the Uber platform, and we are keeping the driver and his loved ones in our thoughts. We stand ready to assist law enforcement with their investigation.”
