SCRAMBLE: Upside-down American flag at Minnesota Somali celebration sparks community chaos: 'Unfathomable'

Summary

Garage Logic: Weekly Scramble – Episode Summary

Episode Title: SCRAMBLE: Upside-down American flag at Minnesota Somali celebration sparks community chaos: 'Unfathomable'
Original Air Date: July 10, 2026
Hosts: Chris Reivers & Mike Frattaloni
Podcast Network: Gamut Podcast Network

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Episode Overview

In this episode of the Weekly Scramble, hosts Chris Reivers and Mike Frattaloni address the recent controversy in Minnesota where an American flag was displayed upside-down during a Somali Independence Day celebration in St. Cloud. The incident has triggered heated community reactions, debate over intentionality versus accident, and broader discussions about Somali assimilation, fraud, crime, and societal tensions in Minnesota. The hosts blend candid opinion, local knowledge, and Garage Logic’s trademark banter as they break down the facts, speculation, and implications surrounding the event.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Stage: The Flag Incident

[04:11–07:35]

• Event Recap:
  St. Cloud Police responded to reports of an upside-down U.S. flag at the Lake George Park Pavilion during a Somali Independence Day event (~500 attendees). The police corrected the flag after receiving complaints. Event organizers said the incident was unintentional.
• Community Reactions:
  The upside-down flag caused outrage and suspicion on social media, with skepticism directed at both event sponsors and politicians in attendance.
• Notable Commentary:
  Chris notes, “Obviously, someone decided that this did not happen by accident. Someone decided whether it was…intentional on the behalf of the Somali community or intentional on behalf of some type of detractor. Either way, it was done intentionally. I’m not buying that for a second that it was an accident.” (08:19)

2. Speculation and “Common Sense” Perspectives

[07:35–10:05]

• Debate on Intentionality:
  Both hosts wrestle with questions of who raised the flag and whether it was a deliberate act (“Do we know who put the flag up? We don’t.”—06:20).
  Mike floats the possibility that a political actor unaffiliated with the event may have altered the flag as provocation.
• Reference to Broader Symbolism:
  Discussion on the meaning of flying the U.S. flag upside down as a distress signal, including its appropriation by political groups (notably some Republicans in 2024).

3. Somali Community, Assimilation, and Systemic Issues

[10:05–15:20]

• Assimilation & Welfare Critique:
  Chris: “Too many inside of that community who know how to live off of the government without really having to put forth any effort...showing some type of resentment towards this country, the very country that’s providing them the right to live off the government.” (11:16)
• Counter by Mike:
  Mike points out systemic issues, not just community choices: “It’s the government. It’s the state and federal government that allow newcomers to get so many advantages...Once you’re on those programs, you almost never can leave because they’re too financially strong for you to get out of.” (14:29)
• Community Response:
  Cites a Somali leader (Omar Podi) publicly taking responsibility for the flag, claiming it was only for 15 minutes, indicating possible good faith efforts at apology and openness. (12:38)

4. Crime, Somali Gangs & Local Leadership

[17:18–26:25]

• Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher’s Warnings:
  Hosts cite Sheriff Fletcher’s posts highlighting a major Somali gang problem in the Twin Cities (“he does an excellent job of providing transparency...” —17:43).
• Media & Law Enforcement Views:
  Fraternal Order of Police VP Joe Giamaldi guesting on Liz Collin’s podcast criticizes Minneapolis politicians for inaction:

  “You see the politicians who...sit their bleeps safely behind their desks and say, we need to defund and dismantle the police department, but it’s not them who has to deal with the real consequences.” (19:41)

• Defund the Police Critique:
  Giamaldi on the dangers of “defund the police” ideology: “When we went down this failed social experiment back in 2020 and 2021, you saw 16 American cities experience their highest murder rate in recorded history. Innocent civilians paid with their blood...” (21:54)
• Hosts’ Local Perspective:
  Chris shares personal sadness about city deterioration and residents being “driven away.”

5. Root Causes, Generational Cycles, and Assimilation

[24:18–26:43]

• Family, Morality, and Opportunity:
  Mike analyses underlying causes:
  “Everyone in the world is the same. You want your kids to be alive and well and have babies and prosper...There’s not a culture in East African culture, West African culture, Asian Culture that doesn’t want that.” (25:20)
• Descriptions of Gangs & Neighborhoods:
  Details on the primary Somali gangs (Somali Outlaws, East African Posse, Somali Mafia) and the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood’s challenges.
• Lack of Opportunities:
  Mike expresses “they have to have skin in the game”—young Somali men lack economic or recreational alternatives to gang affiliation.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• “I try really, really hard, Michael. I do. I try very, very hard to walk that fine line between trying to apply common sense and logic to a given news story and also trying not to become the Rice County redneck that wants to be labeled as an Islamophobe.”
  —Chris Reivers, [03:29]

• “If it was accidental, how could it have not been caught by organizers or politicians that were down there campaigning?...to remain silent not to take a stand for a flag. Really, what the flag represents, too, is—that’s the key here.”—citing St. Cloud City Councilman Scott Brodine, [07:04]

• “We can say we can blame Somalians all we want. It’s the government. It’s the state and federal government that allow newcomers to get so many advantages.”
  —Mike Frattaloni, [14:29]

• “You see the politicians...say we need to defund and dismantle the police department, but it’s not them who has to deal with the real consequences.”
  —Joe Giamaldi (read by Chris), [19:41]

• “You’re harming the very communities that you think you’re helping, and you’re doing the exact opposite. Yet we still had these lunatics pushing to fund the police. It’s very clear that they are willing to put their failed ideology over the safety of their community members. And it’s sickening.”
  —Chris referencing Giamaldi, [21:56]

• “Everyone in the world is the same. You want your kids to be alive and well and have babies and prosper...That’s what everybody wants.”
  —Mike Frattaloni, [25:20]

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• 04:11 – 07:35: St. Cloud upside-down flag incident details and reactions
• 07:35 – 10:05: Discussion on intent, symbolism, and speculation
• 10:05 – 15:20: Deeper social commentary: assimilation, welfare, and blame
• 17:18 – 26:43: Somali gang problem, crime wave after the Fourth of July, policing, political responses, and impacts on the city
• 24:18 – 26:43: Cultural, generational, and opportunity-based discussion on assimilation and youth challenges

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Garage Logic Style & Tone

The hosts maintain their signature conversational, down-to-earth, opinionated style. There’s a mix of genuine concern, sarcasm (“They one-upped us by one day...”), self-aware humor, and attempts at fairness, with Chris offering more pointed criticisms and Mike frequently shifting to systems-level or empathetic takes. The language is colloquial, often laced with regional references and inside jokes familiar to long-term Garage Logic listeners.

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Memorable Moments

• Mike’s speculation about whether the flag incident could have been a “right winger” provocateur (06:38)
• Chris’s passionate condemnation of gaming the welfare system and perceived community grievances (11:16)
• Extended ad-lib about food, hardware, and grilling interleaved with heavy news—true to Garage Logic's balance of serious and light-hearted fare
• Playful behind-the-scenes chatter about the podcast's YouTube strategy and family moments with Chris’s kids “playing” podcast hosts (31:18–33:33)

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Conclusion

This Weekly Scramble episode dives deep into the controversy around the upside-down American flag at Minnesota’s Somali Independence Day event, using it as a springboard for frank opinions on multiculturalism, social media outrage, local governance, and criminal justice issues. The hosts’ blend of pointed questions, local specificity, calls for both individual and systemic accountability, and genuine worry for Minnesota’s cultural future makes this episode a revealing snapshot of current community debates.

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Transcript

[A]

As technology becomes more complex, cyber reality dominates the culture, and AI becomes an endless, anxious discussion. Simple, old human storytelling becomes all the more precious. And that's what you'll find on the Mishki Podcast. In the end, we're all just people. Folks with our brilliance and our absurdities and stories about people. Well, they never get old. The Mishke Podcast, wherever you get your podcasts.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Yes. We're good.

[B]

Yep. And here we go.

[C]

This is the weekly scramble, a place where we chat about life over a cold one or two. It's time to belly up to the pod with Mike Frattaloni and your host, Chris Reivers.

[B]

That's right, it's time for the weekly scramble podcast. My name is Chris Reivers. With me as always. His name is. My name is Mike Fratelloni. Hello, Michael.

[C]

How you doing, Reavers?

[B]

I'm doing great. And I want to start off before we get into some heavier matters. I got to start off with an email in reaction to our show from yesterday that I think you're absolutely going to love. All right. And I did not know that this person happened to also just so happen to be a listener.

[C]

Oh, really? Okay.

[B]

But I mentioned on the show yesterday about my experience, my triumphant return. One game only, one night only. Got it to the Hubbard broadcasting.

[C]

I thought you had Travis or Taylor call us.

[B]

Nope, Nope. That would have been epic. But I got this great email and I want to share it with you because I thought this was great. Reeves subject line softball. Chris, cool that you brought up playing softball in the scramble yesterday. The Culver's team has had a great rivalry quote as much as you can have in D league co rec softball with Hubbard for a long time. You talk often about sports and your kids a lot, so I thought you would appreciate the fact that seven of the 10 players in the field for the Culver's team on Tuesday night were parents and kids from just three different families. Those parents all started playing together 40 years ago when they all graduated from Bethel. And as the kids got old enough to play, they started filling in roster spots. It's always fun playing against the Hubbard team. Sincerely, Josh, AKA I'm the guy you called a dick for hitting a home run off of you. Oh, no, I did it like, jokingly because it gave them. Ah, you know.

[C]

You know what I thought, Josh?

[B]

That email absolutely made my day and I'm going to respond to that. So thanks for sending that in because

[C]

I heard that the Culver's people were putting butter on their bats from the butter burgers So I thought, well, these guys are for sure cheating. Instead of pine tar, they take one of those delicious butter burgers. God, those things are good.

[B]

So good.

[C]

It was funny. I was watching this Tony Chu. Do you know what his name is?

[B]

I have no idea.

[C]

Okay, so he's this Minnesota famous food critic. And I think it was him, right?

[B]

Okay.

[C]

A guy on Instagram. He goes out there and does all these things, and if you get him to come to your restaurant, your restaurant wins. And they were talking to him about fast food burgers. Which one is the best? And I think think it was him. If I'm wrong, Tony, yell at me. I'm sorry. He said the best fast food burger is a Culver's butter burger.

[B]

It's not even close.

[C]

Yeah, it's not really good.

[B]

It's not even close. In fact, in my hometown of Faribault, Minnesota, they just recently got a Culver's.

[C]

Oh, they did.

[B]

And it's been the hit sensation. And it's near the ballpark, so I don't have to drive that far after a Laker game to go get a Culver's.

[C]

Great fries. Great butter.

[B]

We gotta get a concrete shake.

[C]

Great custards. Cheating softball players. No, don't say it. I'm just kidding. No one cares. Hey, that's cool that he wrote in.

[B]

Yeah, that was very cool. And I'm writing back to right now. This absolutely made my day. So that was really cool. So anyway, that was the fun portion of the program. Okay, so here's the problem. I try really, really hard, Michael. I do. I try very, very hard to walk that fine line between trying to apply common sense and logic to a given news story and also trying not to become the Rice county redneck that wants to be labeled as an Islamophobe. I'm trying really hard to walk that delicate balance. And it's difficult, especially in this state. And that's the problem that we have is so many people, I believe, are kind of like you and me and that we're trying really hard to walk that delicate line.

[C]

You're kind of people.

[B]

But I don't understand why that should be the issue when the issue should actually be the thing that's discussed. I digress. More details, Michael, are emerging after an American flag was displayed upside down at a Somali Independence Day event in Minnesota, sparking both outrage and oppression. Apologies. In a situation that has gone viral on social media in recent days, the St. Cloud Police Department confirmed to Fox News Digital that on July 3rd at 5:29pm the department received a call that the US flag was being flown upside down on a city flag pole at the Lake George Park Pavilion during a Somali Independence Day event. A video from that event, exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital, showed the flag upside down. As event attendees, roughly 500 people at peak times enjoyed the festivities. The department said that the officer corrected the flag without objection and that organizers indicated to city staff that the flag being flown upside down was not intentional bs.

[C]

Do we have that? We don't know that button?

[B]

We don't know.

[C]

Yeah, we don't know that.

[B]

Despite the claim that the flag was flown upside down by accident, some in the community are skeptical that the error was not noticed by anyone at the event, including the local politicians who were giving speeches in various organizations like the AFL CIO and then Minnesota Department, excuse me, the Minnesota Democratic Farmer Labor Party, who had booths set up at the event. I was disgusted by it and then disgusted that it wasn't seen, wasn't caught, St. Cloud City Councilman Scott Brodine told Fox News Digital shortly after bringing up the issue in a city council meeting on Monday. If you haven't seen this video, by the way, you need to, and I tip my cap to Scott Brodin for actually having the guts to speak up in a, in a setting like that at a city council meeting. I digress. Brodine says a Facebook friend messaged him on the evening of July 3, and by the time the councilman got down to the event, the flag had already been fixed. He said a St. Cloud police officer told him the department had received complaints and the police made sure the flag was returned to its proper position.

[C]

Do we know who put the flag up?

[B]

We don't.

[C]

Because here's my point. If they were having an event there, they didn't bring a flag. Do you think they brought an American flag inside? Oh, we need to fly this flag.

[B]

The flag would have already been set up potentially, right? Did it just randomly was maybe altered

[C]

then once the event, it was maybe a right winger who said, oh, we're having a bunch of Somalis here. I'm going to fly this flag in distress.

[B]

Well, let's do this. Let's, let's, let's read on a little.

[C]

I'm making it up. Maybe. I don't know the whole story.

[B]

The flag was upside down long enough for the situation to gain significant traction on social media, including a post on the Facebook accounts Rocks and Cows of Minnesota, named after the infamous comment of Governor Tim Walz. Some users on social media expressed outrage directed toward the sponsors of the event. Including U.S. bank. And that was reported by Alpha News. Fox News Digital reached out to U.S. bank for comment. Quote, if it was accidental, how could it have not been caught by organizers or politicians that were down there campaigning? Brody. And asked. It really bothers me, especially with the people campaigning on the weekend of our nation's birthday, a big milestone, 250th, that they would remain silent not to take a stand for a flag. Really, what the flag represents, too, is. That's the key here. And that is really bothersome.

[C]

Okay, that was U.S. bank.

[B]

No, that was Scott Brodin again, the city council.

[C]

Yeah, I know, but US bank was

[B]

one of the sponsors. They were reached out for comment. It doesn't look like they did give.

[C]

US bank does not need to comment on this. No, because US bank had nothing to do with this. If you drive by any US bank in the United States, you know what the flags are. They're flown correctly.

[B]

Correct.

[C]

So no one at U.S. bank is responsible for this flag being flown upside down.

[B]

And here's what I have a problem with. Obviously, someone decided that this did not happen by accident. Someone decided whether it was. Whether it was intentional on the behalf of the Somali community or intentional on behalf of some type of detractor. Either way, it was done intentionally. I'm not buying that for a second that it was an accident.

[C]

All right, I can let you have that.

[B]

So I'm not buying that for a second. And here's the problem that I have. If you've seen the outrage about this on social media, which I did, and I was getting angrier and angrier, this community. I'm talking about, the Somali community as a whole, seems to have a tendency of when an error is committed, whether it's an upside down flag, whether it's the post that the president retweeted about the kindergarten class in Minneapolis in which all of the kindergarten girls were all wearing hijabs, whether it's that. Whether it's fraud being committed largely by the Somali community in the state of Minnesota, whatever that is. And by the way, I don't know if you guys know this. The fraud story's a pretty big deal here. We've been duped out of billions and billions and billions of dollars. The automatic comeback is we're the victim. Well, wait a minute here. Wait a minute here. You're the community that caused this in the first place.

[C]

Are they the fraud? I get that. I thought you were talking about the community that put this flag upside down.

[B]

I am willing to bet quite a bit. Why, Michael, do You okay?

[C]

They have a Fourth of July celebration. They're going, 500 Somalis go to this event to celebrate the Fourth of July. Right?

[B]

July 3rd.

[C]

It's July 3rd.

[B]

Somali Independence Day.

[C]

It's Somali Independence Day.

[B]

Yes.

[C]

You didn't tell me that.

[B]

No, it was in the lead of the story.

[C]

Totally missed that. I thought they were celebrating our Independence Day.

[B]

No, no, no. It was July 3rd.

[C]

Okay, July 3rd. Which happens to be Somali Independence Day.

[B]

Yes.

[C]

Because they one upped us by one day. I'm just throwing that out there. So you think that one, a Somalian person said, I'm flying this flag in protest upside down on Somali Independence Day?

[B]

Yes.

[C]

Okay. Now that I know that it's Somali Independence Day, I thought they were celebrating our beautiful Fortnite upcoming fort upon Somali Independence Day. So it does mean, as you know, it's an official distress signal if you fly a flag upside down. And you may recall, back in 2024, many Republicans were flying the flag upside down in political protest, thinking that Donald Trump was gonna get screwed out or whatever. Right. So the right side did it, Right? Now, if the left's doing it, the right side had done that quite often in 2024. They were flying it upside down to kind of say, hey, something's wrong with our nation.

[B]

Pay attention.

[C]

Right. It's possible that somebody, if they're having a party there, I don't know how they're in control of the flag. Do you think they lowered it down and said, let's put this thing upside down? It just blows my mind. I think it's equally to have someone say, hey, a right winger saying, hey, we have 500 Somalis coming to this event for their Independence Day. This is a slight against America. I'm gonna fly the flag in distress above them.

[B]

We have.

[C]

Do we know more?

[B]

I'm gonna try to piggyback on what you just said. The indication that this is just a. And again, I'm not indicting the entire SOMA doing that. In fact, I know Somalis who have come here who have assimilated, who have wanted to live the American dream, who are out working hard, providing for their family, want good education for their kids. I know plenty of them that are out there. The problem that I have is that there are far too many inside of that community who are trying to game the system. There are too many inside of that community who knows how to live off of the government without really having to put forth any effort. We've seen that. We've seen countless examples of them gaming the system for years and years and years. And, oh, by the way, during that entire time, showing some type of resentment towards this country, the very country that's providing them the right to live off the government. And that's the problem that I have. So when you're gonna sit here and claim your independence, which you have every right to do to celebrate your own independ, fine. But you're still on American soil. And to be that disrespectful on the eve of the 250th celebration of this country's independence to me, is absolutely inexcusable.

[C]

Okay, let me break that down for you. You might see, you might have seen 18 minutes ago, the Somali leader who was there, Omar Podi. Podi. I personally take full responsibility for the American flag being displayed upside down for 15 minutes or so during the event, right? So he said that he came out with a statement saying, I take full responsibility. It was 15 minutes. I take full responsibility for it. What you're saying, Reivers, is I believe everyone from Somalia, everyone who came here from Somalia, said, I want to leave Somalia because America's better. Right? I'm gonna leave my friends, my family, my grandma, my grandpa, my aunts, my uncles, whoever I'm leaving behind in Somalia, and I'm gonna go to America cause it's better. But then when we get here, we do something dumb. We say, hey, congratulations, you are now on the government roll. You now have to fight the government to get more free shit from the government, right? We do the exact opposite of what we've done a hundred years ago, where we said, you're free to paint the roads gold if you want to. You're free to go work, you're free to make money. You have every right to be here now because you were brought in legally and you're a legal citizen. I say you assimilate. Oh, by the way, your son looks like a stud. I want him to play on the baseball and all this stuff. What we did is we made a community. We made an entire community. The only way they can survive or the way they feel like they can survive is to be on the government dole. That's it. And we blew it. And it's not their fault. It's the people who brought them here. They say, hey, you can collect food stamps, you can collect this, you can collect this, you can collect this. Oh, by the way, once you're on those programs, you almost never can leave because they're too financially strong for you to get out of.

[A]

Right?

[C]

You don't Even speak English. You're not gonna get a job that pays better than the government pays. So we can say we can blame Somalians all we want. It's the government. It's the state and federal government that allow newcomers to get so many advantages. You gotta remember, if they're getting on average, let's say a Somali family of four, on average gets $65,000 worth of stuff from the United States and Minnesota in a year. Let's say that, okay, in Somalia, they're not making that. That might be a hundred times more than what they made. They can live on that. And then when someone says to them, if you want a little bit more, vote for this person. And they get up and they say, I'm going to go vote for that person because I might be able to make 66,000 bucks next year. That is not their problem. That is not their fault. They're stuck in this horrible thing because they're going to be forever a ward of the state. Right?

[B]

That's Mike Frattaloni. My name is Chris Rivers. This is the weekly Scramble podcast. And we will be right back. Let's talk about our friends at North American banking. Company banking done differently since 1998. And back then, they made a promise to deliver a better banking experience for their customers where you get to know your banker and they also get to know you. And you know what? A lot has changed since then. However, this commitment to being a true community bank in the Twin Cities, that has not and nor will it ever change. Because you get that feeling anytime that you walk into any one of their six Twin Cities locations, whether it's 50th in France, Woodbury, Hastings, Shoreview, Maple Grove and in Roseville, offering you the same updated online and mobile banking tools as all of those other big national banks, whether you're looking to buy a home, perhaps finance a new home renovation project, or get that new car that you've been dreaming about. Their experts make it so easy and also convenient, but you've got to see it for yourself. Check them out online. Today it's nabankco.com to learn more. It's banking done differently. North American Banking Company member FDIC is an equal housing lender.

[C]

Let's try to hang out with Bilski one of these nights, okay? From North Main. I met him just once. He's super. Super.

[B]

Mike's the man. He's awesome.

[C]

I know you do a really professional ad for them and they might say, hey, Reavers, read this because they don't want you going off the script, sure. But Mike's a really good guy. If you're. If you're looking for banking, go to a good guy.

[B]

Go to a good guy.

[C]

And he's just a really cool guy.

[B]

So what I think I'm hearing you say is you just invited us up to his cabin.

[C]

I think that would be the way, Mike.

[B]

That's the way this is going to work.

[C]

There you go.

[B]

We're just going to show up. Perfect.

[C]

You can do some water. What's that? Wakeboarding?

[B]

Oh, God.

[C]

Barefooting. You're probably barefooter.

[B]

I have to wait for my finger to heal up a little bit.

[C]

He cut his fingers. Ladies and gentlemen, show everybody on the screen.

[B]

It was not a Fourth of July fireworks.

[C]

He's got this big bandage on there, and every once in a while he bumps it and he goes, well, here's the pain.

[B]

Here's the worst part about it. It doesn't hurt. It's just. If I bump it, it just starts bleeding like crazy.

[C]

Is that an important hand for you, if you know what I'm saying?

[B]

Is that the hand right now? Kind of. Anyway. All right, so next story. I wanted to. Not that I want to pile on, but I do kind of want to pile on. And the reason I wanted to get to this particular story is I'm a huge fan of Ramsey County. First of all, listener, but I'm a huge fan of Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher. Yes, I think he does a really good job.

[C]

Pretty cool guy, too.

[B]

I think he does an excellent job of providing transparency for the people that reside in Ramsey County. And I think he's a straight shooter, and I think he's fair. Is that the best way to describe Bob. Sorry, Sheriff Fletcher. Is that the best way to describe him?

[C]

I think fair is a really, really good term for him.

[B]

So the other day he posted. And this was after the Fourth of July celebration in the Twin Cities, resulted in four different homicides and what was it, 20, some shootings or something like that. And basically I saw one news story in which there was an accompanied video from not the news outlet. So I don't want to indict them, but it was like a man on the street video saying, I don't think people understand how much worse this possibly could have been because you just see gunshots and people just aiming randomly random at complete random. And so, Bob, sorry, Sheriff Fletcher, I always try to be respectful. Even though he's a listener and he

[C]

wouldn't mind me calling, and he's a great guy. He probably would say to you, call Me, Bob.

[B]

But Sheriff Fletcher did post about how the Twin Cities has a massive Somali gang problem. And the same thing can be said in the St. Cloud area. I know in my hometown in Faribault, they're having some issues with that as well. Obviously not to the size and scope of the Twin Cities, but basically pointing out, saying, hey, this is a problem. And I remember a few years ago when we had the Reverend Tim on garagelogic saying, hey, yeah, we've got the cultural wars, but the Somali wars are wars within themselves. Meaning these are the gangs. There's. There's. I don't know the names of them. I'm not gonna even try.

[C]

West side Bloods and Crips.

[B]

But it's something very similar to that in which it's. It's a turf war.

[C]

I think it's. It's a caste system that they have in Somalia.

[B]

Right, okay.

[C]

Or it's a religious. Because that's why Jacob Fry won, because Omar Fateh was in the wrong group.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

He was in the wrong side.

[B]

I think I remember right. Yeah.

[C]

So I think. I don't know if that's how the gangs break down, but go ahead.

[B]

But I'm gonna post this story because Liz Collin did an exceptional job highlighting this. I don' if this was in the wake of what Sheriff Fletcher did, but this is courtesy of Alpha News and Liz Collins, and Liz is one of the best reporters in town. So I'm just gonna quote this story and I will post this if you wanna see this, and I'll provide it on the weekly scramble show page. But Joe Giamaldi joined Liz Cullen. He is the national vice president of the Fraternal Order of Police, and she joined Liz Cullen on her podcast to talk about policing in Minneapolis. The past weekend marked yet another violent Fourth of July in Minneapolis. Dozens of car windows were smashed, There was hom. And several people were injured by gunfire, with some of it caught on camera, which I was just alluding to earlier. Despite the danger to the public, many local leaders seem unwilling to publicly acknowledge that there is a massive Somali gang problem in the city. Jamaldi, however, had a lot to say about policing and crime in Minneapolis. Quote, I think Mayor Fry likes to talk tough with everyone, but I think we all know he is completely spineless. Jimaldi said, because these gangs know that even if they are arrested, they're just gonna be let right back out over and over and over again. He said, I will digress for just a second. A lot of that doesn't have anything to do with Mayor Frye. A lot of that has to do with Mary Moriarty and the policies from the Hennepin County Attorney's office. But I get what he's saying. Jamaldi pointed out who is really getting harmed by all of us? The law abiding, hard working members of the community. You know, it's funny because you see the politicians who, I will remind you, sit their bleeps safely behind their desks and say, we need to defund and dismantle the police department, but it's not them who has to deal with the real consequences. He added. And I couldn't agree with that more. Jimaldi explained how defund the police ideology shares much of the blame for the rise in violence. When we went down this failed social experiment back in 2020 and 2021, you saw 16American cities experience their highest murder rate in recorded history. Innocent civilians paid with their blood, he said. Jimaldi spoke clearly about the hypocrisy of the defund the police. You know who got it worst? It was black males who averaged a homicide rate of 12 times that of any other race.

[C]

That's the sickening part.

[B]

Yes.

[C]

Yep.

[B]

You're harming the very communities that you think you're helping, and you're doing the exact opposite. Yet we still had these lunatics pushing to fund the police. It's very clear that they are willing to put their failed ideology over the safety of their community members. And it's sickening. And I will, I will agree with that. And that's the part that it's just literally broke my heart. My last day working was Thursday, July 12, because Friday the 3rd was a Hubbard holiday. So once I was done with work, I didn't come back to the city till yesterday. And I used to love being in the city for the fourth of July. It was one of the coolest parts about living here, about working down here. And now it's a shame because. Because to be honest, if I'm not at work, yeah, I might go to the occasional Twins game.

[C]

You're driving, you're not at work, you're just driving.

[B]

I'm out of here. Yeah, I'm out. And that's what saddens me. I mean, you and I have talked about this so many times over the years, about how the people that really want to live here, that want to give back here, that want to participate in events and what really makes us cool, we're not here anymore. I mean, some still are. Yes. But those that want to be part of this community and culture and everything, they're being Driven away by this. And that's a real problem. You can't continue to bury your head in the sand and pretend like nothing is happening around you, because what purpose is that serving? It's serving no purpose.

[C]

Kills a bunch of young Somali kids.

[B]

And that's the other part of this. And I get it. I know that in some cases, you know, parents can only do so much. I get all of that. But I think that problem stems from such a much younger age. I was talking to. This was a while ago. I was talking to a young woman who teaches in the Minneapolis public school system, or, sorry, did teach in the Minneapolis public school system. And this is someone you would absolutely want as your kid's teacher. She's amazing, and I've known her for a long time. And she just basically said, they don't understand. This doesn't start when they're 15 years old. This starts at a much younger age. And when you. And I'm not indicting any culture here, I'm saying that this is a systemic issue with the school system. And then it leaps out into adulthood. And that's what's happening right now with this.

[C]

It's not the school system per se. It's the family morality in the family. I mean, you got Reavers, you come here to America, you have a couple kids, you don't speak English, you don't have a job, you don't have a good paying job. Somalis are very, very proud people, right? They're very, very proud people. They don't want the name of being called fraudsters. They don't want their children to die in gang accidents. Neither did in the 19th and 20th century. Impoverished Irish, Italian, Polish immigrants, immigrants from Laos, they didn't want their children dying in gangs either, right? They had more time to assimilate. The difference is, is if you get political on it, the left might want to keep this group voting left. And if they become successful, they often don't vote left anymore, right? Because they're like, oh, we don't need those handouts. We need cops on the streets. We want our kids to go to school and go to college. We want our beautiful girls to get married to someone nice and kind and sweet and have a bunch of grandchildren, right? That's what everybody wants. I don't give a shit what people say. Everyone in the world is the same. You want your kids to be alive and well and have babies and prosper. That's what you want. There's not a culture in East African culture, West African culture, Asian Culture that doesn't want that. Right. Everybody in America should want that. And I think they are just. I think part of it is lack of opportunity. Right. These kids are stuck in Minneapolis. Right? There's three big gangs. It says there's 12 emerging East African gangs. There's three big ones called. Should I read their names? Somali Outlaws, East African Posse, and the Somali Mafia. And they're located often right in one little area in Minneapolis. Right.

[B]

Well, it's the Cedar Riverside neighborhood.

[C]

It's the Cedar Riverside neighborhood. And that just. There's not a lot of jobs for kids there. And I know I sound like a bleeding heart liberal on this, right? But we got. They have to have skin in the game. They have to say, I'm sorry, I can't go gang banging tonight. I gotta go work, I gotta go.

[B]

Or I have a basketball game, or

[C]

I have a basketball game, or my little brother's playing baseball and I gotta drive him down to Newport to play in the game. Right. Whatever it is. And we just. That culture today is not experiencing that. Which is a shame because I want everybody to experience the American dream in Minnesota and in the United States.

[B]

That's Mike Fredaloni. My name is Chris Reivers. We are the weekly scramble podcast and we will be right back. I do want to talk about masters maples and mastersmaples.com I was just on the website before the show started today. Man, oh man, Ben is doing a killer job right now. On the website mastersmaples.com, you have to check out the grill collection for the summer. If you go online and place your order for the grill collection, you're going to save an instant 10% off. And if you have not yet tried out the seasonings and the rubs right now they're also available in a 12 ounce size, but they are fan freaking tastic. I mentioned we had a family gathering over the weekend and I made burgers with the savory seasoning and it was an absolute hit. Ben absolutely nailed that one out of the park. And you can also get all of their products at Fratelloni's hardware and garden stores. But yeah, of course you know that they have the best 100% pure Minnesota made maple syrup. And it's the best, but also that pure maple sugar for the bakers in your life. And also do not forget to sign up for the newsletter. It's a really cool newsletter. It's free by the way. And at the bottom of each newsletter there's all sorts of great grilling recipes. And Ben is a Funny. Do you have a newsletter? Yeah, don't you get it?

[C]

No.

[B]

What am I gonna do with a Come on, Ben, grilling recipe?

[C]

First of all, Fratelloni's is one of their number one retailers, right? We sell a ton of Masters Maples. We sell, actually a lot of Masters Maples. Right? That's nice, because everyone listens to this show, and garagelogic knows this is where they can get it. I've never heard or been asked to write something for the Masters Maple newsletter.

[B]

You're kind of a grill master.

[C]

No. Sell a lot of it, though.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

Maybe throw me in there. Throw me a little bone.

[B]

You know what you should do, like a little side note. Should be, Mike explains how to turn on your grill.

[C]

Oh, that's it.

[B]

Come on.

[C]

That's it.

[B]

Come on. You could end like a little. Maybe like a little YouTube video. Like a how to YouTube video.

[C]

I could do something like that. It's sold at Harmony Spirits, too. That's kind of cool.

[B]

Oh, I didn't.

[C]

Yeah, it's on there. I don't know if Larry's writing anything in Harmony Spirits for their Masters Maple newsletter.

[B]

They do have the Harmony Spirits blend from the. That maple syrup, which is delicious. We made. We made breakfast on the. On the grill. You know, the hard top. I can't remember if they sell them at your store, so I didn't want to name the brand.

[C]

We sell the Weber.

[B]

Yeah. Okay.

[C]

So ready? Not rusty. It doesn't rust.

[B]

Yeah. And so my brother made bacon, eggs, the whole shooting match, and the bacon had the little Harmony Spirits and Masters Maples maple syrup with the bacon. Well, let's just put it this way. There was about 20 of us. We went through four packages of bacon, and I'm not joking.

[C]

That's kinda good.

[B]

I'm not joking at all.

[C]

You just tell everybody you're on the keto diet. You're like, oh, it's all keto.

[B]

I have one more email to read to you, by the way. This is fantastic. So this is from loyal listener. I don't know what his frat pack number is, but Mark's a loyal listener to the frat pack.

[C]

Hey, Mark.

[B]

Chris. We talked about this the other day on the show. Chris, I month must be the zillionth person to tell you that Lionel Richie played at the civic center and not the new venue. No biggie. Which I need help figuring that out.

[C]

No biggie. I thought he played at the new amphitheater. Was he not there?

[B]

I don't know. But this is for Mark. Played at The Civic center, which. The Civic center hasn't been around for 100 years, so I don't know what venue he's talking about. So I need help and not the new venue. No biggie. But I'm here to tell you that you would have a ball on the cruise. So you look up the Lionel Richie thing and I'll read the email. There is something to do for everyone in the family. And every morning you wake up at a new place to explore. I have only been on one big boat cruise, and it was a Disney experience. Our son was quite young at the time, but the experience was like a Disney commercial. The Bahamas, a private island. It was fabulous. The last two summers, we did river cruises throughout Europe. Ooh, that actually sounds kind of cool. Throughout Europe on AMA waterways. I would highly recommend them. Much bigger than Viking lines. The boat was for eating, sleeping, and hanging in the lounge after a long day of sightseeing. I'm not trying to argue with you, but tell you why your perception is wrong. LOL. Thanks for another great show, Mark.

[C]

So on June 24, 2026, Lionel Richie abruptly stopped his concert Wednesday night at St. Paul's Grand Casino Arena. I made that mistake because I was making those jokes that maybe that new amphitheater was on an Indian burial ground. That was my joke. Right. And so now, although Gran Casino arena could potentially be on in St. Paul. Could be on. He just. If you're watching this on YouTube.

[B]

Sorry.

[C]

Reaver's just hit his finger on something and he just winced, like. Oh, by the way, can I say something about our YouTube channel?

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Many people are watching on YouTube.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

We've. We're increasing the lights. We're moving the microphones out of our faces.

[B]

Right.

[C]

Right in the game. You're gonna see some stuff coming forward here because Reivers and I are working on stuff. Oh, yeah, we had a meeting the other day. I laughed. You cried. You cried. I laughed. Right. It really worked. And our YouTube channel is going to

[B]

be great and fuego.

[C]

I believe it is on fire. Yes, it is on fire. Not because this equipment's old. It's because our YouTube channel is gonna be so great. I'm gonna ask you too. Can we have an on air work meeting?

[B]

Sure.

[C]

So if we were to ever go live, can you go live on YouTube for us?

[B]

Oh, I mean, we do it on GL every day.

[C]

I know, but do you have to, like, could I send out a frat pack post and say, hey, we're going live right now? Because that's part of the Deal is, no one would know. Oh, right.

[B]

I mean, we. I mean, we could. The problem is we. It took a long time for us to ramp that up with Garage Logic. And then once people got into the habit of when we did the show and at what time we did the

[C]

show, but the show's still there.

[B]

That's true.

[C]

And Garagelogic doesn't have 5,000 frat pack members.

[B]

But here's the thing to keep in mind.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Once you establish that. Because one thing Joe didn't realize. No, but you got to keep this in mind. You have to stay consistent with it or you're going to alienate your audience. In other words, those summer days when Joe would call up at some point, I want to do the show at 9:00'.

[A]

Clock.

[B]

And we'd say, we can't. So, yes, he wants to go tee off at noon.

[C]

Yesterday's show, we changed some lighting and I know you got to go. We changed some lighting and so I wanted to go watch on YouTube to see how the lighting looked. And it was a nine minute video of reivers of one of his kids doing far shows.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[C]

I said reivers. Did you put up the wrong video? He's like, what? Wait, what Os. Yeah. Only luckily, hopefully you didn't say anything wrong.

[B]

I don't think I did. And it was only me and my kids.

[C]

Five viewers had seen it. Cause it was up for like minutes and I just happened to see it, so. So it was just you and your kids screwing around. They must have been here for one day.

[B]

Well, they were here the day I played in the Hubbard softball game. So I was here doing some video editing and whatnot. And of course, the first thing they always want to do is one of them wants to come sit and pretend to be Joe and the other one wants to sit there and then they want to do their own podcast.

[C]

Yeah, he really only talked about fart and poop jokes the whole time.

[B]

That's pretty much it.

[C]

And then he was. Were you pressing the button bar or were they.

[B]

Oh, no, no. He knows. Full access to nothing, but he knows. Okay.

[C]

What do you call a world famous rock group with four guys that can't sing?

[B]

They're Rolling Stones.

[C]

Mount Rushmore.

[B]

God.

[C]

All right, Reavers, you are the best.

[B]

Please do us a favor. Rate and review the show wherever you happen to be listening. The weekly scramble podcast. It helps others find the show. It helps us out as well. And we appreciate each and every single one of you. His name is Mike Fratelloni. My name is Chris Reivers. Thank you so very much for listening the weekly Scramble podcast. We'll talk to you again next time. Until then, cheers.