Grotesque: Islamic Community Center Begs for Mercy as Man Gets Sentenced for CSA of 12-Year-Old
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If the Al-Ihsan Islamic Center wants to prove that Somalis can be good neighbors and can integrate into Minnesota’s community, they sure picked a bad way to prove it. 





What they did instead was reinforce many people’s belief that Somali culture is utterly incompatible with American culture and that the Somali definition of a good family man who contributes to his community is too different for any reconciliation. 

Does that sound blunt? Well, whether you agree or not depends on whether being a good husband, father, and valued member of the community applies to a man who abducts, rapes, and tries again to rape a 12-year-old girl. If you think that this is fine, upstanding behavior, you agree with the Al-Ihsan Community Center and all the Somalis who begged for mercy for this predator. 

If you don’t, then at least admit that anybody who considers this behavior normal doesn’t belong in America. 

It’s not a hard choice, and not one I am creating. They are. 

Before you accuse me of being bigoted–holding opinions that are based merely on race, religion, or other characteristics like that–read what these fine upstanding community members say about their favorite father and husband. Then tell me whether you agree with them or me. [Emphases mine.]

A Somali immigrant living in the United States has been sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for raping a 12-year-old girl in Minneapolis last year. After the conviction, an Islamic center in St. Paul wrote a “community support letter” for the perpetrator.

Qalinle Ibrahim Dirie, 42, was born in Somalia during the country’s civil war and grew up in Kenyan refugee camps. In 2006, Dirie immigrated to the United States and initially spent time in Minnesota before moving to North Dakota for several years. He eventually moved back to Minnesota in 2014 where he has since lived. …





On May 28, 2025, a jury found Dirie guilty of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. After he was convicted, Dirie’s family submitted letters to Judge Michael E. Burns which asked the judge to consider Dirie’s “character” when making a sentencing decision.

“[Dirie] is a deeply good man whose presence enriches the lives of those around him,” said one of the letters. “I respectfully ask that you consider his character, his contributions, and his ongoing potential when making your decision.”

Among other things, the letters portrayed Dirie as a hardworking, family man “who genuinely strives to make meaningful contributions.” In addition to the letters from family, the Al-Ihsan Islamic Center in St. Paul submitted a “Community Support Letter for Qalinle Dirie” to the judge.

“We, the undersigned members of the Somali community, write this letter to express our strong and heartfelt support for Qalinle Dirie, a member of our community,” says the letter.

The Islamic center wrote that the convicted felon has faced “the challenge of starting over in a new culture,” and Dirie was known as an outgoing, family-oriented person before “this situation.” The Islamic center said the community has “witnessed his love for his family and kids” and noted that Dirie sends money back to Somalia to support family members.

“[Dirie] has also been an active volunteer in our mosque, Al-Ihsan Islamic Center, where he regularly visited during Friday prayers, Ramadan, and community events,” said the letter. “You’ll often find him helping elders find rides home or staying after to help clean up. His service has never been about recognition — just a quiet commitment to supporting the spaces that hold our community together.”

The letter was signed by Ahmed Anshur, the executive director of the Al-Ihsan Islamic Center. No other signatures were on the document.





Oh, well, he has “a quiet commitment to supporting the spaces that hold our community together.” 

I’m not so sure that holding a community together so it can promote the virtues of a man who abducted and raped a 12-year-old. 

Dirie was caught a month after first abducting the girl from her yard, taking her to a car, raping her, and apparently getting her phone number. 

He kept calling her, and when her brother found out, he and her father texted him and arranged another rendezvous. He brought condoms for the next encounter. They held him until the police arrived. 

Court documents say the man left the scene for a few minutes but returned, putting his hand over her mouth, forcing her into a car, and striking her over the head. The victim said the man drove a short distance away from the home, pulled over, and sexually assaulted her. Eventually, the victim was able to run home.

According to criminal charges, the victim had contact information for a “Mohamed Muuse” in her phone. When asked about that person, the victim said “Mohamed Muuse” was the man who assaulted her. Using that cellphone contact, a sting operation was set up by the victim’s family several weeks after the assault. Dirie arrived at the victim’s home and was taken into police custody.





This is the fine family man who supports his community both here and in Somalia, and for whom we should extend a healing hand of forgiveness because he drives elderly people home from a community center that apparently thinks raping young girls is no big deal. 

It is not prejudiced to say that the Somali community–not every Somali, surely, but this is the Community Center that holds the Somalis together as a community–has values incompatible with those of Americans. The very idea that they can appeal to Darie’s “character” as a DEFENSE for his actions should stun you. 

Other than the “incident,” did you enjoy the play, Mrs. Lincoln? That Booth guy put on quite a show! Nobody will forget it!

It is not PREjudice. It is a considered judgment based on the evidence before us. And if you are unable to make a rational judgment based on evidence, or think the evidence before your eyes shouldn’t count, I don’t know what to say. It means you are fine with little girls getting raped so that you can feel virtuous. 

I know some Somalis who have integrated well into our culture, but they are not the norm. How do I know that? I have eyes. I see the news. I see how carefully the powers that be hide who is committing these sexual abuses. I see massive, multi-hundred-million-dollar frauds on the taxpayers committed by Somali perpetrators, who the state government abets. 

And I see the excuses. A new culture. They must adjust. He is a good man who didn’t know that raping a 12-year-old is not OK. 





He’s been here 19 years. Is it year 20 that the epiphany comes? 


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