by Elizabeth Baier,
Minnesota Public Radio
May 24, 2012

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Muslim civil rights leaders are asking the FBI to investigate graffiti spray-painted onto the driveway of a Somali-American family in Rochester.

The letters "KKK" and the word "stink" were sprayed onto the family's driveway in northwest Rochester on Sunday.

Lori Saroya, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Minnesota, said the latest incident sends a message of hate to the Somali-American community in southeast Minnesota.

"It may seem minor," Saroya said. "But what we've seen nationally is that these type of incidents escalate and it's troubling to us that these individuals or individual know where these families live."

Saroya said while neighbors came together to clean off the paint, the vandalism sends a message of hate.

"It just sends a message that some people aren't welcomed in our community," Saroya said. "That's just an very unfortunate message to send because the Somali community is an integral part of the Minnesota community in general."

Saroya said it's the second incident in the last year in Rochester. Last May, similar graffiti was spray-painted onto the home of another Somali-American family in the same neighborhood.

Source: MPR

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