No hate crime in neighborhood brawl involving Somali woman, Columbus police say - The Columbus Dispatch

Beth Burger The Columbus Dispatch @ByBethBurger

Columbus police say they have no evidence that a brawl between neighbors at a Northeast Side apartment complex was a hate crime.

A 45-year-old Somali woman and a 31-year-old Hispanic woman were both treated at hospitals after the fight Saturday. Allegations quickly surfaced that the Somali woman, Rahma Warsame, was targeted because of her ethnicity, and rumors circulated widely on social media. The Council on American-Islamic Relations Columbus chapter called for police to arrest the man they accused of assaulting her.

But police said it is not clear who instigated the fight and it did not appear to be a hate crime.

"There is no evidence at this time suggesting the incident involved any type of bias which would constitute the incident being investigated as a hate crime," police said in a statement.

The FBI defines a hate crime as a “criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity.”

The fight started just before 9:30 p.m. in the 2800 block of Pinellas Court after 31-year-old Samantha Morales said she saw a Somali woman strike a child in the face with a shoe.

The boy ran off. Words were exchanged.

Morales said the Somali woman, 28-year-old Muna Warsame, was swinging a stick at her, so she told Warsame if she struck her with the stick, she would hit back. 

Morales called 911 and accused Muna Warsame, who is not related to Rahma Warsame, of confronting her and threatening to break windows to her home. 

Muna Warsame called 911 too. She accused Morales of taking the boy into her apartment, which Morales later denied. Muna Warsame told dispatchers she had a stun gun for protection and she was headed for Morales' apartment. 

Morales said Muna Warsame stunned her hand. Morales' screams can be heard on the 911 call as well as the electrical popping sound of a stun gun. She said other Somali neighbors began attacking her. Her boyfriend, 28-year-old Ricky Boice, came to her defense, she said.

"Race has nothing to do with this," Morales told The Dispatch. 

Rahma Warsame told The Dispatch she was going to the aid of Muna Warsame and was trying to diffuse the situation when she was struck. She did not know the woman. She said the man made racially charged comments. Rahma Warsame lost two teeth and a third one is now loose. She said she suffered a facial fracture.

Morales said 20 people were involved in a fight that broke out. Somali residents interviewed at the complex told The Dispatch only a few people were involved. 

Sgt. Rich Weiner, Columbus police spokesman, said no charges were filed because of a lack of physical evidence and because multiple witnesses interviewed gave conflicting stories. No primary aggressor was identified, and the police report describes almost all involved as "persons of interest."

All who still wanted to press charges were referred to the city prosecutor's office, Weiner said. At most, the events would be considered misdemeanor assault, he said.

Weiner was unable to say how many officers went, but there was a large enough crowd that an "officer in trouble" call was sent out to get backup units there fast. 

A fundraising page on LaunchGood with Rahma Warsame's story had already raised more than $86,000 toward her medical expenses Monday afternoon.

bburger@dispatch.com

@ByBethBurger

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