A new documentary examines the activities of alleged Somali gang members in Minneapolis. Posted to YouTube earlier this week, the 30-minute documentary was produced by Tommy Gerszewski, who goes by the name Tommy G on his various social media platforms.
During the course of “Inside a Somali Gang War,” Gerszewski speaks with various Somalis living in Minneapolis. Many of the individuals featured in the video flash hand signs and use masks to hide their faces.
Among the individuals interviewed for the documentary, Gerszewski spoke to a bail bondsman and bounty hunter who said “Somali gangs are taking over, they’re coming deep, and there’s a lot of rivalries. North Minneapolis has a big rivalry with the ‘Highs’ and the ‘Lows.’ And there’s a street that literally divides the ‘Highs’ and the ‘Lows,’ it’s called Broadway. So on Broadway you want to tread lightly cause that’s where the ops be at.”
One of the primary figures interviewed for the documentary is a Somali rapper named “G Money,” who lives in Minneapolis. Gerszewski met with both “G Money” and the rapper’s “entourage” for the documentary.
Speaking to “G Money,” Gerszewski asked the rapper about his background. A Muslim, “G Money” told the cameras that he did two years in juvenile detention after he committed 16 robberies in two hours. The rapper described the crimes as “dumb-ass shit.” When asked what he robbed, “G Money” said “we was just robbing everything moving.”
In the documentary, Gerszewski also asks “G Money” why he “chose a life of war.” The rapper, whose parents fled civil war in Somalia, responded by saying, “I mean, I ain’t chose a life of war, the life of war kinda chose me.”
Asked if kids look up to him, “G Money” said, “Hell yeah, there’s a lot of kids that look up to me.” Elaborating, the rapper said, “I try to spread a positive message sometimes, but [kids] get such a negative message out my music sometimes and they take it the wrong way … .”
Gerszewski also spoke to members of the rapper’s “entourage” at a studio in Minneapolis.
Speaking to a few non-Somalis at the studio before the “entourage” showed up, Gerszewski asked about common Somali stereotypes. One of the non-Somalis answered with “can’t drive, I don’t know” in reference to Somalis.
Eventually, a Somali man who appeared to be associated with “G Money” was asked about the subject. After joking back and forth with the people in the room, the Somali man said, “Don’t get me wrong, I do wreck” before saying he had “wrecked a lot a cars.”
When Gerszewski asked how many cars he had wrecked, the man answered by saying, “I done went to Cali, wrecked a car. Got another car, wrecked it again.” One person in the room stated that the man had wrecked four cars in total.
Attempting to explain himself, the man said, “The only reason why I be wrecking cars cause I be high as hell off drugs, and I just be driving, nodding off, and shit like that.”
The documentary, “Inside a Somali Gang War,” also features interviews Gerszewski conducted with other members of the Somali community which discussed Somali history and the Somali presence in Minnesota.
Luke Sprinkel
Luke Sprinkel previously worked as a Legislative Assistant at the Minnesota House of Representatives. He grew up as a Missionary Kid (MK) living in England, Thailand, Tanzania, and the Middle East. Luke graduated from Regent University in 2018.
