St. Paul Raises Somali Flag Over City Hall in Minnesota Capital

Ohio’s capital city removed a public announcement that said Somalia’s flag would be flown over City Hall.

In a Wednesday post, the Columbus Recreation and Parks Department noted plans to recognize the 1960 “unification of the Trust Territory of Somaliland and the State of Somaliland into the Somali Republic.”

The message concluded by stating that “City Hall will be raising the flag of Somalia,” accompanied by an image of the nation’s blue flag featuring a white five-pointed star.

Republican Ohio Sen. Bernie Moreno criticized the announcement and objected to the planned flag-raising ceremony.

‘There is only one nation’s flag that should ever be flown on American government buildings or property,’ Moreno wrote on X.

He added: “This action by Columbus is a total disgrace and takes away from the epic celebration on Saturday of this country’s 250 year celebration.”

Somalia Independence Day is observed on July 1, while the United States is set to mark its 250th anniversary this coming July 4.

The post, which also appeared on Facebook, has since been deleted after drawing broad criticism from conservative voices.

The now-deleted post even caught the attention of officials in the orbit of President Donald Trump, with White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller weighing in.

‘Columbus, Ohio raising the flag of Somalia for America 250,’ Miller wrote on X.

Ohio State Rep. Brian Stewart, a Republican, said the post was ‘one more way in which we encourage the refusal to assimilate.’

‘If Somalia is such a failed state that we need to take in tens of thousands of its citizens as ‘refugees,’ then we really don’t need to be celebrating its supposed ‘independence’ with patronizing posts on social media,’ Stewart wrote on X.

Columbus has the second-largest Somali community in the US, according to WBNS.

More than 60,000 Somali people live in the city, per the outlet.

ALSO READ: Clint Eastwood’s Son Opens Up About On-Set Clash With Hollywood Co-Star

Texas Rep. Brandon Gill, a Republican, was among the lawmakers who criticized the post.

‘The United States of America is about to turn 250 and Columbus, Ohio has decided to raise the flag of Somalia,’ Gill wrote on X.

Tricia McLaughlin, the former Department of Homeland Secretary (DHS) assistant, also reacted to the post about the Somali flag.

‘Ohio’s capital city hoisting the flag of a foreign nation,’ McLaughlin wrote on X.

A spokesperson for Columbus mayor Andrew Ginther, Jennifer Fening, said the social media post ‘created by a city department falsely stated that City Hall would raise the Somalian flag in recognition of Somali Independence Day.’

‘While the City recognizes and respects the aspirations of people around the world to live in freedom, this post was inaccurate and has been deleted,’ the mayor’s spokesperson told the Columbus Dispatch.

However, it was still not entirely clear why the post was made in the first place.

A Somali flag was not on the City Hall building as of 3.20pm local time on Wednesday, according to the outlet.

Somalia’s Independence Day was celebrated in Columbus last year, with City Hall being lit blue in honor of the country’s flag, according to Spectrum News 1.

No events were scheduled to take place at the City Hall in commemoration of the country this year.

In 2021, Ohio State Rep. Dontavius Jarrells, a Democrat, helped lead a lighting ceremony at Columbus City Hall.

That was followed by a flag raising ceremony on a flag raising ceremony on the grounds of the Ohio Statehouse.

The Daily Mail has reached out to the Columbus Mayor’s office and the Columbus Recreation and Parks Department for comment.