A mother and two of her adult children have been charged with bias-motivated crimes in connection to a brawl at St. Louis Park High School last week that forced the school to cancel classes for a day.
Latoys Milon, 41, and her children Abreeha Smith, 22, and Jerome Smith, 19, have each been charged with one count of third-degree riot and one count of fourth-degree assault “motivated by bias.” The charges say the three defendants, who are black, targeted Somali students during the Jan. 18 incident.
According to the charges:
Police responded to the high school around 2:15 p.m. that day on a report of a parent who was threatening to beat up students. When police arrived, they encountered Milon, who claimed that one of her daughters, identified in the complaint as S.M., was “jumped” by multiple Somali girls, which turned out to be inaccurate.
Body camera video shows Milon yelling toward a group of Somali girls, saying things like, “I’ll fight any Somali that comes down those stairs, bro,” and, “These Somalians think they running s—, but they met their match.”
Police reviewed surveillance footage of the first incident, which shows Jerome Smith fighting a Somali male in the school hallway. At one point, Milon’s daughter, S.M., who claimed she was “jumped,” joins the fight and begins throwing punches at a female student.
A second fight later began outside in the school parking lot as police were interviewing students who witnessed the first fight. In the parking lot, police observed four of Milon’s children “all actively fighting several Somali students, and had some pinned up against a vehicle.”
“Defendant Milon was yelling, swearing, and physically gesturing towards several Somali students. The group was actively punching, striking, and grabbing several Somali students. Additional officers arrived [on] scene and all defendants left in a white Mitsubishi,” the charges say.
One of the Somali victims told police she was punched in the face by one of Milon’s minor daughters and did nothing to provoke the attack.
A second female Somali student, who was allegedly punched in the head by Abreeha Smith, said Milon and her kids were “yelling at every Somali that had walked past.”
A third victim said he “felt he was targeted because he was Somali,” and a fourth Somali female victim was allegedly choked by Jerome Smith.
“Surveillance footage from the school parking lot shows the group get out of the vehicle and approach Victim 3. The video shows Defendant J. Smith throwing Victim 3 to the ground and jumping on him. Defendant A. Smith then kicks and stomps on Victim 3. Defendant Milon then kicks and punches Victim 3. When Victim 3 tries to get up and run away, Defendant J. Smith and Defendant Milon grab him and throw him down again. Defendant A. Smith then kicks and stomps Victim 3 again,” the charges conclude.
Milon and her two children were charged via summons and are not in custody, although Milon and Abreeha Smith were briefly jailed after the incident.
Anthony Gockowski
Anthony Gockowski is Editor-in-Chief of Alpha News. He previously worked as an editor for The Minnesota Sun and Campus Reform, and wrote for the Daily Caller.
