FARGO, N.D. - An Oct. 11 assault on a Somali man in Fargo has sparked discussion about whether North Dakota needs hate crime legislation.
And the incident also is prompting the Fargo Human Relations Commission to review how to respond to potential hate crimes in the future.
On Wednesday, Police Chief Keith Ternes said the case has been forwarded to prosecutors to consider potential misdemeanor simple assault charges. However, he said, there is no evidence to indicate the incident was a hate crime.
The incident involved a Somali man who was beaten in the neck and face about 4 a.m. on Oct. 11 in front of his south Fargo apartment by two men unknown to him.
Even so, the initial suggestion that a hate crime had been committed led to the special meeting of the Human Relations Commission Wednesday, where commission members, Ternes and members of the local Somali community discussed the issue.
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Fargo's Commission Chairwoman Prairie Rose said she believes hate crime legislation is needed to offer better protection to members of the community.
However, Ternes disagreed, saying rather than passing a new law, the state needs to adopt stiffer penalties for crimes such as assault.
If police do determine an incident originated because of hate, he said, the department will work closely with the community that is impacted.
"We do not want a certain segment of our community to live in fear," Ternes said.
Mitch Marr, the executive director of the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition and a member of the Fargo Human Relations Commission, said Wednesday that a hate crime targets not just an individual, but a community.
Hate crime statutes, such as in Minnesota, typically enhance penalties for the underlying crime, such as an assault.
At Wednesday's meeting, members of the local Somali community thanked Ternes for the investigation into the Oct. 11 incident and told him there is no fear among Somalis that they are being targeted.
Ternes said the quick reaction from the Human Relations Commission to call attention to the Oct. 11 incident before the completed investigation did not hurt the inquiry, but had the potential to take it and "turn it into something more than what it was."
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In reviewing its response to the recent incident, commission members decided to discuss its response and prevention plan before the end of the year.
Ternes also suggested that it would work best to collectively bring the issue to the public rather than having one entity initiating the discussion. Rose said the commission plans to work to get everyone on the same page before taking action.
"I think we acted in a means that was acceptable but we didn't have all the facts," she said after the meeting.
FBI statistics from 2006 show there were 16 hate crime incidents reported in North Dakota - with two occurring in Fargo and involving race as a factor.
There were 137 incidents reported in Minnesota, none of which were reported in Moorhead.
The "hate" crimes reported involve those motivated by biases based on race, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, national origin and disability, according to the FBI Web site.
Nationwide, there were 9,080 hate crime offenses reported in 2006, with
19.1 percent of the incidents involving simple assault.
