An investigator with the state Attorney General's Office has accused security at Fairview-Riverside Medical Center of racial profiling after he said he was harassed while serving a search warrant receipt last week.
In an interview, Kayseh Magan said that even though he repeatedly identified himself, a white security guard at the hospital in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood still followed him out to his car and demanded to know what he was doing there. Even as he raised his hands to signal he was not resisting, Magan said the guard grabbed his ID hanging from his waist.
"It kind of tells me, doesn't matter what your job title is, it doesn't matter if your job title is investigator, it doesn't matter if your employer is the Minnesota Attorney General's Office: If you're Black you're going to face discrimination," said Magan, who is Somali American. "To law enforcement you're a big Black guy — that's how I appear to the outside world."
In a statement, M Health Fairview spokeswoman Aimee Jordan said the incident resulted from "miscommunication" when Magan went to a hospital entrance where documents were not accepted.
"Despite instruction from onsite security, the individual left the documents at an improper location and began to leave the premises. The security person notified a supervisor of their plans to return the documents to the individual, which required them to exit the building," Jordan said. "Following security protocol, additional security personnel were directed to the location for assistance. After a review of the individual's credentials, they walked to their car and departed."
Surveillance footage Jordan shared with the Star Tribune shows Magan entered the lobby of Masonic Children's Hospital with a document in his hand. He stood in the lobby for several minutes, briefly spoke with a security guard, then stepped outside. He then briefly stepped back inside, dropped the envelope on the desk and left. A woman security guard then picked up the envelope and walked out after him. She's seen following him across the street when they disappear below an overhang where surveillance footage does not capture the encounter.
Magan said that although the woman security guard followed him, it was a male guard involved in the confrontation.
Attorney General Keith Ellison said in a statement released through a spokesman that everyone "should be able to live and work with dignity and respect."
