In a chilling series of social media posts over the weekend, Omar Fateh, a Minnesota state senator and former mayoral candidate in Minnesota, declared that Minneapolis’s Cedar-Riverside neighborhood would be a “no-go zone for white supremacists.” The imagery was stark: Fateh standing before the iconic Riverside Plaza towers with the message, “Cedar Strong. White Supremacists aren’t welcome here. We protect our own.”
“No-go zone” is a loaded term, imported from European debates to describe areas where the rule of law is said to be weak and certain people are unsafe. That framing alone should alarm anyone who values a single standard of citizenship. In America, neighborhoods do not get to decide who may enter them—full stop.
When challenged online with the simple reminder that Americans can go where they please, Fateh doubled down: “This is a No-Go zone for white supremacists.” The obvious question follows—who decides who qualifies? But even before that, a more basic principle applies. In the United States, abhorrent views are still protected speech. A person could, legally, parade in offensive attire on a public sidewalk in Minneapolis. We defend that freedom not because the views are acceptable, but because the alternative—selective access to public space—is far worse.
Let’s not be naïve about the subtext. Fateh is unlikely to mean only avowed neo-Nazis. In recent months, Minnesota Democrats—including Tim Walz, Jacob Frey, and Ilhan Omar—have repeatedly characterized lawful actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement as racism. In that climate, it’s reasonable to worry that support for border enforcement—or even Donald Trump—could be swept into the definition of “white supremacy.”
The concern isn’t hypothetical. Pro-Trump counter-protesters in Minneapolis were reportedly assaulted, and one man was threatened for wearing an American flag sweatshirt in freezing temperatures. Against that backdrop, promising a “no-go zone” reads less like rhetoric and more like encouragement.
Fateh and his allies have also attacked journalists such as Nick Shirley for reporting on a massive fraud case tied to Somali-run nonprofits—an investigation federal prosecutors say siphoned billions from programs for children and seniors. The instinct to shield a community from scrutiny is understandable; endorsing exclusion from public space is not.
We abolished “sundown towns” because they violated the core American idea that rights do not depend on race, creed, or politics. Creating modern, ideological versions—however well-intentioned the language—revives the same poison. Minnesota, and Democrats especially, should say clearly and without caveat: there will be no European-style no-go zones here. One country, one set of laws, for everyone.