2021 shooting involving Jamal Osman’s brother revisited
In light of newly available documents, I revisit a 2021 shooting case involving Liban Osman, the brother of Jamal Osman, Minneapolis city council member (DFL-Ward 6).
The incident occurred around 4 p.m. on September 16, 2021, at a small market in south Minneapolis. By all accounts, Liban Osman was the initial victim in the attack.
An official Minneapolis police report of the incident includes the following narrative, which I reprint in its entirety:
The aggressor was one Hussein Abtidon, then aged 33. The victim was Liban Osman, then aged 40. Both men are listed in the police report as both Victim/Suspect.
Curiously, the first name to appear in that same police report is the following,
The report does not specify how Jamal was either related or involved in the incident. Abtidon was later charged with two felonies in the case: attempted murder and assault. In a plea deal, Abtidon later pled guilty to the assault charge. Osman was not charged in the case.
The complaint filed against Abtidon in Hennepin County court begins with the following three paragraphs:
The initial complaint and later court documents go on to explain how Osman was attacked, completely unprovoked, blindsided by Abtidon inside the market. Abtidon persisted in the attack, which spilled out into the street, eventually producing a knife and stabbing repeatedly at Osman’s head and face. Osman was badly wounded in the attack, and his injuries, which included a fractured skull, required emergency surgery.
The complaint also includes these two paragraphs, at the top of page 3:
At this point, Abtidon has been subdued and does not appear to be a threat any longer. The knife was on the sidewalk. The wounded Liban ran away.
Liban then went to his car, got his gun, returned, and shot Abtidon while his former attacker lay on the ground.
Fast forward to August 2023, when Abtidon pleads guilty to the one felony assault charge and is sentenced to more than seven years in prison.
As for Osman’s role, his involvement was referred to Ramsey County Attorney John Choi, a Democrat, for review. Choi’s office reviewed the incident and, in a letter dated March 24, 2022, declined to charge Osman with any crime, citing self-defense.
Perhaps the county attorney had access to more facts than were included in the original complaint. But my reading of the complaint leads me to lean away from “self-defense” and more toward the conclusion that Liban meted out some instant, if rough, street justice.
At the time of the original Sept. 2021 incident, numerous media accounts reported on Osman’s stabbing (e.g. KARE-11, Star Tribune, KSTP). But nothing has been reported since.
With the political connection, not to mention the “stand your ground/duty to retreat” angles to the case, you would think this more newsworthy.
Jamal Osman is now a thrice-elected member of the city council. His familial connection to the victim (brother Liban) provided the occasion for the initial media reports on the incident. Liban himself had gained some fame the year before as the subject of a Project Veritas report on alleged election campaign voter fraud.
With the benefit of hindsight, it’s clear to me that the September 2021 stabbing/shooting incident requires more attention.