Following threats, Mandela grandson's visit to University of Minnesota moved off-campus

Several human rights groups condemned the University of Minnesota after an event with guest speaker Chief Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela, grandson of Nelson Mandela, was moved off-campus due to threats.

Mandela, a member of South Africa's National Assembly, was scheduled to speak at Cowles Auditorium in the U's Humphrey School of Public Affairs Tuesday night. The hosting groups, which include CAIR-MN, the Anti-War Committee and Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar, criticized the U's initial decision to cancel the event and said it should have been allowed to continue.

"Regrettably, the cancellation of the event featuring the grandson of Nelson Mandela is an embarrassment for the University of Minnesota, which possesses the resources needed to protect speakers from such threats," said CAIR-MN Executive Director Jaylani Hussein in a news release.

Asked for comment, the university provided a different account, saying the host groups made the decision to move off-campus after the U asked them to assist with ensuring that higher security requirements would be met.

An email provided to the Star Tribune from CAIR-MN showed that a U employee informed the event hosts around 11:40 a.m. Monday that it was canceled due to "threats of violence" regarding Mandela's visit.

"Upon review of the threats and working with our on- and off-campus police departments, the safety risk to our community is too great," the email read.

The U offered to retract the cancellation in a 1:20 p.m. Monday response to the hosts' concerns. The university's one condition was that hosts would have to ensure that "significant" security measures would be met by the end of Monday.

Those included ticketing every entrant, prohibiting bags and enforcing that rule, and running a check-in table. After that the hosts decided to relocate off-campus.

Hussein said that the U canceling due to the threats "conveys an unwelcoming message and emboldens those who seek to intimidate."

In an email, a university spokesperson said the U had promised "quadrupling" the number of officers on paid overtime to provide extra security at the event.

"We fully respect the organizers' decisions to do what is best for their event," the U's statement read.

CAIR-MN instead will host the event at 7 p.m. Tuesday at its offices at 2511 East Franklin Ave. in Minneapolis. Hussein said there will be added security measures including bag inspections.

Hussein did not offer specifics of the what the threats were, but he said they emphasized certain aspects of the holocaust, and that they appeared to be from white supremacists wanting to shut down the event.

"Usually when someone makes these kinds of threats, we just increase (security) protocol, check bags, things like that," he said in a phone interview.