[Mpls] Omar

[WizardMarks]

gemgram wrote:

> Anyone know what date the sentencing of Basim Sabri is to be done.  
> Have the Central Neighborhood, the Whittier Neighborhood, the Ventura 
> Village Neighborhood, and the Somali Community that he attempted to 
> exploit and takeover prepared "Community Impact Statements" for the 
> Court.  Such statements would go a long way to ensure a criminal gets 
> the sentence he really deserves.

WM: Central Neighborhood, for one, will not be doing that. From the 
perspective of all those working with CNIA, CANDO, or Weed & Seed, it 
happened, it's over, we're moving on. The best thing the whole CNIA 
debacle did for us was to highlight, rather forcefully, the 
long-standing tensions and contradictions in the neighborhood. We're 
still in denial about how to address those tensions, but that was one of 
Sabri's more painful contributions.

> Remember this same Basim Sabri is the person who bragged that he 
> "Owned" public officials, that he was Minneapolis City Council 
> Member's "retirement fund". 

WM: Sabri will probably always be a Miles Glorioso (sp?), he shares that 
trait with his brother, Hamouti. How much of a relationship his bragging 
has with reality is anyone's guess. He pretty nearly always works within 
his social construct and outside of ours. If one has no dog in the hunt, 
his performances are pretty funny.

> He thought that he didn't have to worry about the law, he could buy 
> law.  According to some of the Somali business people who he exploited 
> the Sabris threatened them with these political "friends". ...  he 
> continues receiving votes and "support" from his "friends".
> ... [newspapers could] identify some of those politicians who thought 
> Sabri was a "friend" and positive for Minneapolis. 

WM: Actually, I'm not sure he thought that at all. I have perhaps seen 
him twice when he was tired enough to let down his guard even a little 
bit. He plays cards very close to the chest, so whatever he really 
thinks is a mystery. I've seen a man trying to keep umpteen balls in the 
air and knowing he was coming to a crash somewhere, but not knowing 
which ball will drop. I can't identify the balls.

What I am puzzled about is why he is such an object of obsession. He's 
been tried and convicted, sentence will be meted out. Sentences for 
white collar crime are notoriously less substantial than other crimes 
against people. We also let big business bribe public officials all the 
time through donations to their campaigns. Sabri is small potatoes by 
comparison to what we allow and even promote.

Personally, I can't support bribing public officials--or anyone else for 
that matter. It doesn't seem to be a good practice over the long run.

> WizardMarks, Central
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