Savage Attack In St. Paul

The St. Paul Somali community has been rocked by news of a brutal, savage attack on a 25 year old female. The alleged criminal is Afif Abdiaziz Ahmed, shown above in the Ramsey Co. booking photo [Courtesy St. Paul Pioneer Press].

The gruesome story details the damage inflicted:

It was a vicious attack that St. Paul police say a man inflicted on his 25-year-old girlfriend. The assault destroyed one of her eyes and may have damaged her brain.

The brutality of Monday's attack — which police said included facial and genital mutilation — shocked residents of Skyline Tower, a Summit-University high-rise apartment populated largely by Somali immigrants.

Somali leaders have been understandably quick to point out that this behavior is not unique to immigrant communities in general, or Somalis in particular.

I'll be the first to agree that sick and twisted acts can be found in any "community", however, my concern is that oftentimes we are allowing people to immigrate to America and enter our country without knowing who or what they are.

Why wouldn't a third world country want to rid itself of it's worst citizens; the criminals, the psychotics, the perverts, or worse? Does America screen sufficiently for these defects? Is it even possible?

By no means am I saying that all immigrants are bad people, but it's clear that some are. And why should we allow even one bad person to set foot on American soil?

In the case of Afif Abdiaziz Ahmed it will be interesting to see what the psychological evaluation reveals. Consider this: What if it turns out he is sane? Then do we consider a cultural component?

"The viciousness of the attack would indicate incredible levels of anger and a certain desire to mark her, given that many of the cuts were to her face," Schnell said.

That sounds more like uncontrolled rage than mental illness. The alleged criminal, in fact, has a history of anger:

According to a police officer, Ahmed had gotten into a fight with his girlfriend and destroyed the inside of the apartment, cutting furniture with a knife and breaking other valuables.

"Clearly, he was on some sort of a rage, and damage to the apartment was extensive," said St. Paul police spokesman Tom Walsh.

Ahmed will have to answer in court for his actions, and we can only pray he goes away for a long, long time, and upon his release he is deported to Somalia, functioning government or not.

Afif Ahmed, 26, who is charged with nine felony counts in the attack, made his first court appearance Thursday. Ramsey County District Judge Salvador Rosas ordered him held without bail pending a psychological evaluation to determine if he is competent to stand trial.

Let's hope judge Salvador gives a sentence commensurate with the crime in the event Mr. Ahmed is found guilty.

We'll be watching.