This my best friend of 20 years.
He’s Nigerian and I’m Iranian.
If Trump’s
#MuslimBan
were in place 25 years ago, he wouldn’t be allowed to come to the US
and
My dad, a victim of torture, couldn’t escape Iran to come to the US
We are your neighbors.
#NoMuslimBanEver
My dad has been a restaurant owner on Lake St. for 20+ years.
Last night a group of confirmed white supremacists dressed in all black with gas masks. They tried multiple times to hammer down our restaurant and set it on fire.
People from the neighborhood helped protect it.
MN VOTERS:
- Your employer must allow you to vote + it’s illegal for them to make you use your PTO
- If you’re registered to vote, you do not have to show your ID
- You can register on the same day
- You can vote if you’re in line by 8pm
- you can bring your child with
THREAD:
Recently, my mom called me in absolute tears. What she said made me freeze. "Keaon, we didn't escape one police state to come to another." The weight has been sitting on me.
My dad was 20 years old when the Iranian Gov kicked down his door and dragged him away in chains
Jim is a hedge fund attorney with zero courtroom experience.
He’s vowed to gut the entire consumer protection division and says Keith “harasses business.”
Jim wants to be AG so he can protect CEOs and corporations, not Minnesotans.
The fox guarding the henhouse.
Saw this happen that night. We had no doubt in our minds that the person who did this was someone other than a protestor.
Boogaloo Bois terrorized Minneapolis.
Just in: Minnesota federal prosecutors charge a third Boogaloo Bois member, this time on riot charges. Ivan Harrison Hunter, 26, of Boerne, Texas, allegedly fired 13 rounds from an AK-47 into Minneapolis PD's Third Precinct Building on May 28. Stay tuned to
@StarTribune
for more.
Only 8% of MPD officers live in Minneapolis. The rest? In the suburbs and exburbs. Notably, Angie represents a healthy portion of MPD officers in her district.
INBOX: U.S. Rep. Angie Craig comes out against Minneapolis public safety ballot initiative that would replace the police dept. and create a new dept. under city council control. Her district covers southern Twin Cities suburbs incl. Lakeville and Eagan
A dusting of snow this morning was just a preview of the main event expected to hit later this week as the Twin Cities metro area and southern Minnesota brace for the biggest snowstorm in 30 years.
#mnwx
Ilhan was in a union and fights for organized labor.
Antone was a partner at a notorious anti-labor law firm.
I want my representative in Congress to uplift workers, not tear them down.
The choice is clear.
Please. Do not attend this march today.
I’m begging you. There is reason to believe there are infiltrators in our city using a mass misinformation campaign.
DO NOT ATTEND THIS.
There are *actual* terrorists: Proud Boys, Boogaloo, and other White Supremacists on the ground in Minneapolis causing havoc to our beautiful, resilient community.
We will continue to protect ourselves and rebuild.
The defining feature of the State is that it has a monopoly on violence.
The State dictates who can use force and how much can be used.
Imagine if the State focused on building community up instead of “domination and force.”
Minneapolis is going to change the world.
Politics are into you, even if you aren’t into politics.
4 years ago one of the first Executive Orders Trump signed was a Muslim Ban.
President Biden—on his first day—is revoking the Muslim Ban.
Hard to put in words what this means for my family in Iran and all Muslims.
Ask yourself: Why would a hedge fund lawyer with zero courtroom experience want to be AG?
Because the heart of the AG's office is protecting consumers and holding bad corporations accountable.
Jim said he'd gut the consumer protection division. The fox guarding the hen house.
60% of killings by the police happen in Greater MN.
50% of killings by police in MN involve someone in a mental health crisis.
Gazelka and GOP senators do not actually care about saving lives of all Minnesotans.
1/ Why Rent Cancellation/Mortgage Forbearance is needed right now:
In 2018, a renter working 40 hours a week and earning minimum wage can afford a typical two-bedroom apartment (i.e., not be cost-burdened) in exactly ZERO counties nationwide.
Unacceptable the amount of journalists who have been shot at, harassed, and even arrested tonight.
They are exempt from the curfew order and risking their lives to bring us the news.
We need answers for why they are being targeted. Now.
Please help identify this man. He was involved in starting the fire at autozone. This was not done by protestors. There is reason to believe that agitators were looking to cause mayhem to take away from peaceful protestors.
MPD's budget was $193.3 million in 2020.
I rather reinvest that budget into neighbors and start building up the community.
My bet is on actual neighbors to roll up their sleeves and create a safer, better Minneapolis than the 8% of the 800+ officers who live in Minneapolis.
Really proud to have worked on this. This happened today:
@AGEllison
and the Innocence Project of MN won a grant for $300,000 from the DOJ to start a Conviction Review Unit. MN will be just the fourth Attorney General's Office in the country that operates a CRU through an AGO.
I asked my dad when he noticed the neighborhood change.
He said it's when the city invested in the neighborhood and helped bring in more BIPOC businesses, community organizations, and art.
When the neighborhood was empowered and supported, everyone did better and crime fell.
If you invest in neighbors and empower them to fix their community they will.
If you invest in more armed officers and all they have is a hammer, everything will look like a nail.
AG Ellison: "We're not just going to fix up the windows and sweep up the glass, we're going to fix the broken, shattered society that leaves so many people behind."
57 Buffalo Police Officers resigned from the force’s emergency response team after the suspension of two officers who shoved a 75-year old man to the ground.
Here they are applauding as the suspended officers leave the courthouse.
How do you reform this?
I passed the bar exam! So much relief after months of early mornings and late nights. I couldn't have done it without my wife, family, friends, and coworkers. You helped push me through.
To my friends who didn't pass, this test doesn't define you and you now know what to expect.
“hOw ArE yOu GoInG tO pAy FoR tHiNgS wItHoUt BaNkRuPtInG tHe CoUnTrY”
We should instead be asking
- why does Amazon get away with paying $0 in taxes
- why did we bailout Wall Street after they committed fraud
- why pay for endless wars
Healthcare is a human right.
It's actually wild that cops will shoot tear gas, rubber bullets, etc. at peaceful protestors for simply asking them not to kill Black folks but when MAGA folks overrun the UNITED STATES CAPITOL to overturn an election and are fighting officers they aren't met with any energy
BREAKING: Trump supporters have breached the Capitol building, tearing down 4 layers of security fencing and are attempting to occupy the building — fighting federal police who are overrun
This is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. Thousands, police can’t stop them
Jim is an anti-choice hedge fund attorney with zero courtroom experience that wants to attack our freedoms.
He sat on the Human Life Alliance’s board. An org that supports forced birth for victims of rape and incest.
Jim vowed to go on “offense” to attack the right to choose.
My take on Walz re-opening: Bad idea.
I get that small biz is hurting (my dad is a small biz owner), the economy is hurting, and people are getting restless.
But, when did profits and a small, vocal minority start to become more important than science/medical experts?
Jim is running to be a prosecutor but doesn’t know there’s no such thing as 3rd degree manslaughter.
Jim’s never stepped foot in a courtroom or prosecuted a case.
Jim running for AG is like a high school track runner trying to win an Olympic gold medal. Out of his league.
Proud to cast my ballot for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, Tina Smith, Ilhan Omar, Kim Ellison, and for my Minneapolis people, vote YES on both city questions.
Mail-in voting is easy, safe, and fun!
GO VOTE!
1/ Let me weigh-in here, as someone who ran Keith's organizing shop for CD5.
Television ads and glossy mailers don't engage the voters of CD5.
You cannot ask a TV a question or tell a glossy mailer about how you can't afford your insulin.
You don't buy votes, you earn them.
In
#MN05
,
@IlhanMN
is quietly getting swamped on TV. Television ads ain't everything, but a big disparity: She's yet to run a single ad, and her primary challenger
@Antone_MN
has already spent over $1 million. More in Score for
@POLITICOPro
subscribers
Are people actually trying to re-write history and cast George W. Bush as a president with character and compassion???
Please. I'm utterly disgusted, especially at Dems that are trying to rehabilitate his image.
The man is a vicious war criminal. Did we forget that...
Jim said, "Keith is pretending that he's done criminal prosecution."
That's an insult to victims of crime from the 40 cases the office has prosecuted when county attorneys asked for help.
As AG, Keith hasn't lost a single criminal case. Jim's never stepped foot in a courtroom.
He confessed that seeing how aggressive and militarized the police was caused him to have PTSD episodes. He was shaking, that me, his only child was experiencing the same state violence that he tried to escape from in Iran.
He sought asylum in America and did everything right.
Tonight is the longest night of the year. We Iranians celebrate
#shabeyalda
by eating pomegranates, read poetry (in particular Hafez), and spending time with family.
The last few months have been a whirlwind. After 4 1/2 years as serving as Outreach Coordinator in the AGO, I officially transitioned to the legal side.
Today, I was sworn in as an attorney and am officially an AAG.
Among his businesses, the autobody shop on 37th & Chicago--one block from where George Floyd was murdered--has been in the neighborhood nearly 30 years
On the front of his shop is a community mural of Tyesha Edwards, an 11-year-old who was killed by a stray bullet.
Family back in Iran is feeling hopeful for the first time in years. Looking forward to:
Sanctions being lifted
US re-entering nuclear deal
Ending Muslim Ban
Millions suffered under Trump. Today, we take a moment to celebrate and get back to work tomorrow. No “back to normal”
38th & Chicago used to be one of the roughest parts of the city.
I remember spending much of my time growing up outside of my dad's shop and witnessing and hearing violence and crime.
But, what stopped the violence and changed the neighborhood wasn't more police.
He worked multiple jobs for 20 hours/day, dropped out of college to pay for my mom's education so she could graduate from college, and started his own businesses across the Twin Cities, hiring mainly immigrants, BIPOC, and anyone that needed a chance while paying a livable wage.
The heart of the AG’s Office is consumer protection.
Jim is a hedge fund attorney with zero courtroom experience more focused on protecting CEOs and corporations, not MNs.
He made that clear when he vowed to gut the entire consumer protection division.
His crime? He opposed Ayatollah Khomeini and organized for human rights. For the next 18 months, he was physically and psychologically tortured.
Every night he begged to die. Beyond the emotional scars, he has a gunshot wound on his lower arm, a physical reminder.
Can’t be silent about the atrocities the Palestinians are facing.
Show up in community and raise our collective voice against imperialism, colonialism, and genocide.
A march for dignity and justice tomorrow.
Today's the first day of my last semester of law school.
I did the math and it turns out I have the same amount of courtroom experience as the Republican running for Attorney General—exactly zero.
THIS.
Milwaukee Bucks are boycotting Game 5 of NBA playoffs after police shoot Jacob Blake 7 times in the back and police greenlight right-wing militia killing 2 protestors and injuring 1 last night in Kenosha.
Disrupt the flow of capital. Mad respect.
The Bucks still haven't come out to the court for Game 5 with the Magic and there's been some discussion within the Bucks about a boycott, sources tell
@malika_andrews
and Adrian Wojnarowski.
NBA officials have gone to check the Milwaukee locker room, per
@wojespn
.
NEW: Oregon lawmakers are considering a bill to allow people to vote while incarcerated. If passed, Oregon would join Washington, DC in the growing national movement to abolish felony disenfranchisement
Jim Schultz tried to lecture Keith about the special agent in charge— he said Joe Thompson: That’s wrong. He’s the assistant United States Attorney.
Next time Jim tries to lecture Keith, maybe he should know the facts. But he’s never stepped foot in a courtroom so wouldn’t know.
The AG can only prosecute crimes when the county attorney asks.
Jim vowed to move 36 “corporate regulators” to the crim division—gutting the entire consumer division to focus on crimes he can’t prosecute.
Jim’s a hedge fund attorney looking out for corporations, not consumers.
The big picture: The debate over the division's size and scope underscores the role crime and public safety issues are playing in one of the year's most competitive races.
Got back from doing a Civil Rights Tour/road trip through the South with my girlfriend before we both returned for our 2L year.
We wanted to connect what's happening in Minneapolis to the US and personalize the cases we are reading in class.
Here are some reflections...
Just finished my last final of my first year of law school!
Feeling very accomplished to have survived working and going to school.
Here’s a few weeks of relative calm before summer classes start.
AG Ellison: "What we're dealing with is not an isolated case, we're dealing with a systemic problem, the state needs "permanent" and "deep systemic change."
Jim vowed to gut the entire consumer protection division.
Then said he'd 3x the charities division (which is IN the consumer protection division he'd gut)
Jim said he'd go on offense against abortion.
Then said he's for a 20-week ban.
Jim will say anything to get elected.
2/ Of the nation’s approx. 43 million renters, more than 40% are already considered “rent-burdened,” spending more than 35% of their income on housing and utilities.
40% of Americans cannot cover an unexpected $400 expense
78% of American workers are living paycheck-to-paycheck
Minnespolis/MN:
- largest homeownership gap between Black/white
- 2nd largest income inequality gap between Black/white
- worst HS graduation gap between Black/white
- 34% of Black MNs in prison even though 6% of pop
Wish there was same urgency for Black MNs as downtown biz
Ask the failed GOP AG candidate who spouts law and order if he supported the Jan. 6 insurrection. His boss, Mike Lindell does.
Ask the failed GOP AG candidate about his "secret second constitution."
Ask the failed GOP AG candidate about his vow to fire all dem attorneys
I’m so excited to eat a Cajun Finn at Northern Waters Smokehaus tomorrow.
I’ve convinced my girlfriend to go to the North Shore with me for a day trip to eat there and listen to an oral history of organized labor in MN on the way.
Happy Labor Day!
Mask off. At this point you’re either for genocide or against it. Anyone still backing this is bloodthirsty and complicit.
Half of Gaza’s population is children. The denial of humanity to the Palestinian people is disgraceful.
I always look forward to
#shabeyalda
Tonight is the longest night of the year. We read the Shahnameh and the famous Iranian poet, Hafez while eating pomegranates.
The celebration of Yalda is meant to mark a victory of the sun over darkness (the long night) and goodness over evil
1/ As we discuss holding police accountable and transforming our criminal justice system, we also have to think about one of the most powerful actors in this discussion who often go under-the-radar: County Attorneys.
In MN, only 13/87 County Attorneys had challengers in 2018.
Minneapolis turning out yet another day for Palestinians.
The anger many feel toward Biden is palpable. I’ve been doing electoral politics a long time. In a state like Minnesota, the drop in turnout among Muslim voters could be crucial in a presidential general.
Mitra is an example of what an elected official should be and not only listens, engages, and works with the community but makes politics engaging and fun.
Well-deserved and thanks for blazing a path forward.
We stan you,
@mitrajunjalali
I have tried every single day in this job to be accountable to our community, push boundaries of what we believe is politically possible, tell the story of our city/our dreams for its future, & be 100% myself.
Thanks
@citypages
for acknowledging my work.