After Boise police shooting, African community demands changes, ‘shall not be silent’

After calling off their planned protest outside of City Hall this week — a response to the police shooting of Mohamud Hassan Mkoma, a Black African man — members of Boise’s Somali Bantu community met privately Tuesday to decide how to seek answers from the city.

Among the questions they have is what led police officers to open fire on the 33-year-old East African refugee on June 27 after it was reported that he abducted a 14-year-old boy — who the refugee group said is Mkoma’s son.

“We’re gathered here today to make a firm stand against these types of police brutal violence,” Hawo Mkoma, younger sister of the man the Bantu community said was shot by police, told the group Tuesday. “These types of brutality will continue unless we speak for our weakest members. We cannot and we shall not be silent today, and not ever, because simply allowing injustice such as this is doing nothing for our victims. We have to come together, stand for a purpose to make a firm stand for justice for Mohamud.”

The group Justice for Mohamud formed after the incident, which police have said transpired following a call to dispatch that a man they initially identified as Mkoma was connected to the taking of a local child. The Boise Police Department issued a series of tweets the day of the incident that included photos of Mkoma and the 14-year-old, stating they had reason to believe the teen was in danger. Mkoma suffers from a mental health disorder and speaks limited English, according to family.

Patrol officers located a vehicle matching Mkoma’s not far from the area of the alleged abduction and tried to stop him, police said. He fled, according to a news release issued by BPD, and police used a chase maneuver to spin out the vehicle near the corner of 36th Street and Eyrie Way, just north of Quail Hollow Golf Course. They confronted the man after seeing a Black child in the vehicle who they believed to be the abducted teenager, as well as what they thought was a weapon.

Officers Steve Martinez, Aaron Hartje and Jeff Ridgeway have been identified as the three members of the police force involved in the shooting. Only Martinez, who has 18 years of experience in law enforcement, including 13 with BPD, has been involved in a prior shooting, according to Boise Police spokesperson Haley Williams. Each officer has been placed on paid administrative leave, per standard department policy.

Since the initial social media posts, police have declined to identify the man who was shot and is recovering after surgery at an area hospital. He remains in police custody in critical but stable condition, Williams said, but the agency will not confirm the hospital. Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center on Curtis Road is the only Level II trauma center for adults in the region, and also was the site of a small protest by members of the Bantu community the day after the shooting.

Police also have declined to offer further details, such as what kind of weapon officers believed they saw, and have not confirmed the relationship between the man and the teenager. In addition, BPD has declined to provide details about the 911 call or what information made them believe the boy was at risk. Police Chief Ryan Lee said after the shooting that the department was preparing to issue an Amber Alert just before the confrontation with the suspect.

Family members said they also have not been told who called 911.

On Wednesday, BPD denied an Idaho Statesman request under the Idaho Public Records Act for the police report from the incident, citing an ongoing investigation. An Ada County Critical Incident Task Force review is underway, with the Garden City Police Department leading that investigation, which will include review of footage from the officers’ body-worn cameras.

Boise police chief, mayor meeting with Bantu community leaders

Family and Bantu community members are seeking to correct what they say is a false narrative that police issued publicly about Mkoma, and are demanding his release once he has recovered. Mkoma’s mother is allowed to visit him once each day at Saint Al’s, according to family members, but for just an hour, and wants increased visitation to see her son.

The refugee group said it also demands release of the police body-cam footage sooner than the current timeline it has been given of up to nine months.

“I just want to see my son, and (for him) to be released,” Mchiwa Hassan, Mkoma’s mother, said Tuesday in Kizigua through an interpreter. “I just want peace, and justice.”

At Tuesday’s gathering, organizers of what was going to be a Tuesday night protest said they postponed their event at the urging of law enforcement after groups in the local social justice movement got involved and officials became worried about possible altercations and violence.

However, Williams said that in recent conversations with family members and the greater Bantu community, Boise police worked to help organizers safely exercise their First Amendment rights if they chose to hold a rally.

“We assisted the group with getting a permit and had officers on scene if needed to ensure a safe event,” she said in an emailed statement. ”BPD’s interest in talking with event organizers was about meeting their needs, not whether or not they held a protest.”

Bantu community leadership instead hashed out plans for going forward, including setting up meetings with Lee — Wednesday at 3 p.m. — and Boise Mayor Lauren McLean, who is scheduled to meet with a group early next week.

About 30 protesters with Boise’s Black Lives Matter chapter, and another group calling itself Wall of Moms Idaho, gathered in front of City Hall on Tuesday night. Attendees sat in a circle on the lawn on North Capitol Boulevard, while a slightly smaller group of counterprotesters hovered nearby, some armed with assault rifles, handguns or knives. They carried Thin Blue Line flags, and one grasped a Don’t Tread On Me flag and wore a hat that read Idaho Liberty Dogs.

Across the street, a half-dozen Boise police officers look ed on, while others stood on the sidewalk on West Idaho Street. Verbal barbs were exchanged at points between Terry Wilson, founder of Boise BLM, and a pair of armed counterprotesters who approached him, but the scene never escalated to any physical confrontation or required police intervention, Williams confirmed.

“We were specifically asked to help (organize), and we did,” Wilson said in an interview with the Statesman.

A person connected to Mkoma’s family called Wilson a few days after the shooting to ask for help, Wilson said, and the social justice group was given permission by the family to amplify the protest Tuesday at City Hall. Plans for follow-up demonstrations have already been hinted at on social media by both the Justice for Mohamud and BLM Boise groups. The Bantu community members said they are giving police and the city three days to meet their demands, including release of the body-cam video, or they plan to join protests.

“We also want police to be held responsible,” said Mkoma’s sister, Hawo. “We want action for change. We want answers about what they could have done other than just going for the gun.”