Minneapolis, MN — Outrage erupted in Minneapolis after Mayor Jacob Frey personally honored the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), a militant separatist group blamed for mass killings, kidnappings, and terror-style attacks in Ethiopia, at its 41st anniversary celebration.
Frey’s warm embrace of the ONLF, once widely condemned for guerrilla warfare and the slaughter of civilians and foreign workers, is being described by security observers as nothing short of shocking.
The event did not begin as a cultural celebration but as a religiously charged commemoration. Somali speakers opened with Qur’an recitation, including Surah Al-Ikhlas, declaring the oneness of Allah, followed by blessings and repeated invocations of “Insha’Allah” and “Allahu Akbar.” The anniversary of the ONLF’s founding in 1984 was emphasized throughout, making clear the gathering was meant to sanctify and glorify the group’s militant legacy.
Who Are the ONLF?
The Ogaden National Liberation Front, founded in 1984, is a militant Somali nationalist movement seeking to carve an independent “Ogadenia” state out of Ethiopia’s Somali-majority Ogaden region.
- Its tactics included ambushes, kidnappings, bombings, and targeted assassinations of Ethiopian officials and foreign workers.
- In April 2007, ONLF gunmen launched a notorious raid on a Chinese-operated oil field in Abole, Ethiopia, killing 74 people — including nine Chinese nationals — and kidnapping seven others.
- The Ethiopian government labeled ONLF a terrorist group until 2018, citing thousands of deaths caused by its insurgency.
- Western analysts, including the Council on Foreign Relations, have linked ONLF rhetoric and tactics to Islamic extremist movements in the Horn of Africa, though ONLF has denied such ties..
Though the U.S. never formally listed ONLF as a terrorist organization, Washington has long considered Ethiopia a close regional ally, meaning public praise of ONLF by a sitting American mayor risks being seen abroad as tacit U.S. sympathy for violent separatists.
What Happened in Minnesota
The Minnesota celebration, billed as “Xuska 41aad ee Aasaaska Ururka ONLF” (41st Anniversary of the ONLF), was an openly political commemoration of the group’s founding. Somali TV of Minnesota broadcast the event, where speakers invoked the ONLF’s decades-long “struggle for liberation,” mixed with religious invocations, calls for civil disobedience, and appeals to diaspora youth to continue the cause.
At one point, a speaker in English directly urged the crowd, particularly the youth, to ask themselves whether their “sisters back home” were truly exercising their rights, before explicitly calling for “civil disobedience.” This was not a neutral cultural gathering; it was a political rally urging the Somali diaspora to carry forward ONLF’s separatist struggle from U.S. soil.
Into this highly charged atmosphere stepped Mayor Jacob Frey, who took the podium and praised the Ogaden Somali community:
“You’re an inspiration. You mean so much to Minneapolis. The kind of resilience and perseverance that the people of Ogaden have shown for generations inspires all of us… After 41 years, there will be another 41 years into the future.”
By explicitly tying his praise to the ONLF’s “41st anniversary” and declaring “there will be another 41 years into the future,” Frey was not merely commending Minneapolis’ Somali community; he was implicitly blessing the continuation of ONLF’s cause, a cause built on insurgency, kidnappings, and massacres.
His remarks — explicitly framing ONLF’s legacy as inspirational — drew applause from the audience.
Why It’s So Alarming
Legitimizing Violence
By praising ONLF’s “resilience” at an anniversary explicitly dedicated to the group’s founding, Frey effectively whitewashed a record of violence that includes mass killings of Ethiopians and foreigners.
Political Pandering
Minnesota is home to the largest Somali population in America. Frey’s appearance at an ONLF anniversary is widely seen as cynical political pandering to diaspora networks, even at the cost of aligning himself with an armed foreign separatist movement.
The Red-Green Axis
For Frey and the far-left, the ONLF fits neatly into the “oppressed peoples” narrative — allowing radicals to romanticize a bloody separatist movement as a liberation cause, even when its record is steeped in Islamist rhetoric, kidnappings, and mass killings.
Foreign Policy Repercussions
Ethiopia remains a key U.S. ally in the fight against jihadist groups in the Horn of Africa. Frey’s public praise for ONLF risks being interpreted internationally as U.S. municipal support for a militant organization hostile to Ethiopia.
Pattern of Double Standards
At home, Frey and other Minneapolis officials frequently condemn “extremism.” Yet here, the mayor warmly celebrated an organization once condemned globally for guerrilla attacks and killings — raising questions of selective outrage and political hypocrisy.
A Disturbing Precedent
Security analysts warn that the normalization of militant groups within diaspora politics creates dangerous precedents:
- It emboldens separatist organizations to use American soil as a political stage for foreign conflicts.
- It sends the message that U.S. leaders will look the other way — or even lend legitimacy — so long as a local voting bloc demands it.
- It undermines the credibility of U.S. counterterrorism partnerships abroad.
As one regional observer noted after the 2007 oil field massacre, “The ONLF’s strategy is to make foreign investment impossible in Ogaden. To glorify that struggle in Minneapolis is deeply irresponsible.”
See the video of the full event:
Conclusion
Mayor Jacob Frey’s participation in the ONLF anniversary celebration marks a stunning breach of judgment. By standing shoulder to shoulder with sympathizers of a group long associated with bloodshed, kidnappings, and terrorism, Frey has not only inflamed public concern at home but also risked diplomatic embarrassment abroad.
At a time when Minneapolis faces rising crime and social division, its mayor’s decision to celebrate a militant separatist group — one responsible for atrocities like the 2007 Chinese oil field massacre- will haunt his political legacy and raise urgent questions:
Who exactly is Jacob Frey representing the citizens of Minneapolis, or the most radical elements of foreign separatist movements?
The post Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey Honors Former Terrorist Group ONLF — Linked to Mass Killings and Kidnappings, Undermining Key U.S. Ally Ethiopia (Video) appeared first on RAIR.
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Author: Amy Mek
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