Somali School in Minnesota Gets Threats After Trump Posts Video of Kindergartners

A Minnesota school that serves Somali families received hateful emails and phone calls this week after President Donald Trump shared a video of its kindergartners online. The video showed young children in blue graduation gowns singing in Somali at Gateway STEM Academy, a K-8 charter school in St. Paul. Community leaders say the post put the children in danger and is part of a larger pattern of attacks on Somali Americans during Trump's second term.

Trump reposted the video on Wednesday from a kindergarten graduation ceremony at the school. Some of the girls in the clip wore hijabs under their graduation caps, and Trump also shared a caption reading, 'Every girl is in a hijab … in kindergarten.' The children's faces were clearly visible, and the video was seen by Trump's 12.9 million followers on Truth Social.

The replies to Trump's post quickly filled with hateful and anti-Muslim comments. One user called the children 'future terrorists.' Leaders in the Somali community said sharing the video put some of its most vulnerable members at risk, and school officials confirmed they received hateful emails and phone calls after the clip spread online.

The song the children sang was harmless — it spoke about pride in being a student and the joy of reaching a milestone. Community leader Malika Dahir explained that Somali families often livestream events like graduations so relatives around the world can watch. 'To feel like now these moments might be weaponized, there's just a sense of loss, like our joy has been stolen,' she said.

Minnesota is home to about 80,000 people of Somali descent, the largest Somali community in the United States. Trump has often pointed to a series of fraud cases involving government programs to justify his focus on Somali immigrants. The largest case involved a nonprofit accused of diverting about $250 million from a program meant to feed children. Trump used these cases to send thousands of immigration officers to the Twin Cities, an operation that led to weeks of protests and the deaths of two U.S. citizens.