Star Tribune
Antagonism toward Somali students behind St. Louis Park brawl, say charges against mom, 2 adult kids
Hostility toward Somali students at St. Louis Park High School from a mother and her children last week fueled a brawl that started in a hall and flared up again in the parking lot, according to charges.
The altercation led school officials to cancel all classes and activities the following day, Jan. 19.
Charged on Thursday in Hennepin County District Court were 19-year-old Jerome A. Smith, 22-year-old Abreeha A. Smith, and their mother, 41-year-old Latoys R. Milon.
The St. Louis Park family members were charged by summons. Court records do not yet show a court date for any of the three or list defense counsel for them. Messages were left with the family seeking a response to the allegations.
According to the charges:
Police were alerted on Jan. 18 about 2:15 p.m. that a parent was at the school threatening to beat up students. Officers met with an assistant principal and Milon, who said her 16-year-old daughter told her in a phone call that “she was jumped by multiple Somali females,” the criminal complaints read.
School surveillance video showed that the initial altercation involved Jerome Smith and a Somali male in a hall. The daughter who called her mother claiming that she was jumped “is seen [in the video] voluntarily entering the physical altercation at point and … throwing punches at another female student, contrary to what [she] initially reported,” the charges read.
An officer outside the school soon saw a disturbance involving Jerome Smith, Abreeha Smith, the 16-year-old daughter and a 14-year-old son of Milon’s “all actively fighting several Somali students, and has some pinned up against a vehicle,” the charges continued. “The group was actively punching, striking and grabbing several Somali students.”
As her children were fighting, Milon was yelling, swearing and gesturing toward Somali students. As additional officers arrived, Milon and her children got in a vehicle and left.
A Somali student told police that Milon’s 16-year-old daughter punched her without provocation. Another Somali student said Abreeha Smith punched her on the left side of her head.
Outside, another Somali student said he was confronted by the instigators and felt he was targeted because of his ethnic background. The ambush left him with cuts to his legs and facial injuries. Another Somali student said Jerome Smith choked her with both hands, and Abreeha Smith punched her in the head.
Transforming the heart of both downtowns, which have much larger buildings than old warehouses, is going to take a lot more money, creativity and time. Josh Talberg, managing director at downtown Minneapolis brokerage JLL, said with no major apartment buildings on the drawing board in either downtown, the fleet of empty office buildings present a golden opportunity to create more housing and lead both cities in a new direction.
“You can can certainly see the fundamentals improving, and you can feel that vibrancy, and that’s ultimately the foundation that’s needed to get investors to reinvest in the city,” he said. “But it’s not as if these 18-wheelers can turn on a dime.”
The Minnesota Department of Transportation closed part of a state highway Wednesday evening near Austin because of a “major hazardous materials release” in the area.
Hwy. 56 from Hayfield to Waltham, a stretch covering about five miles, was closed in both directions and drivers were directed to follow a detour to Blooming Prairie on U.S. Hwy. 218.
No information on the hazardous materials released was immediately available.
A federal judge dismissed a civil lawsuit against Minnesota state trooper Ryan Londregan in the shooting death of Ricky Cobb II during a 2023 traffic stop.
The decision is the latest development in a case that has drawn heated debate over excessive use of force by law enforcement. Criminal charges against Londregan were dismissed by Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty in June, saying the prosecution didn’t have the evidence to proceed with a case.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Nancy E. Brasel granted Londregan’s motion to dismiss the civil suit, arguing he acted reasonably when he opened fire as Cobb’s vehicle lurched forward with another state trooper partly inside.
Londregan’s attorney Chris Madelsaid Wednesday that it’s been a “long, grueling journey to justice. Ryan Londregan has finally arrived.”
On July 31, 2023, the two troopers pulled over Cobb, 33, on Interstate 94 in north Minneapolis for driving without taillights and later learned he was wanted for violating a felony domestic no-contact order. Cobb refused commands to exit the car.
With Seide partly inside the car while trying to unbuckle Cobb’s seatbelt, the car moved forward. Londregan then opened fire, hitting Cobb twice.
In her decision, Brasel said the troopers were mandated by state law to make an arrest given Cobb’s domestic no-contact order violation. She said it was objectively reasonable for Londregan to believe Seide was in immediate danger as the car moved forward on a busy highway, which would make his use of force reasonable.
