St. Paul officer won't face charges in shooting death of Yia Xiong, 65
ST. PAUL, Minn. — A St. Paul police officer will not face criminal charges for last year's fatal shooting of 65-year-old Yia Xiong.
Ramsey County Attorney John Choi and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison jointly announced the decision on Wednesday in connection to the shooting on Feb. 11, 2023.
Police were called to Xiong's apartment building on Western Avenue South on a report of a man threatening people at a kid's birthday party with a machete.
The deadly encounter
Body camera footage shows officers Abdirahman Dahir and Noushue Cha confront Xiong, armed with a knife, at his apartment door. Xiong turns away from them, unlocks his door and tries to go inside.
The officers prevent his door from closing and command him to come out. As the officers back away, Xiong steps into the hallway. Dahir then fires his rifle at Xiong while Cha deploys his Taser.
Investigators say Xiong was holding a traditional Hmong knife that was 16 inches long.
Protests follow
Those who knew Xiong said he was partially deaf and did not speak English.
"He was already in that enclosed room," said St. Paul Councilmember Nelsie Yang. "So maybe if officers had allowed for some time to pass in between, maybe even just 15 minutes."
Trahern Crews, founder of Black Lives Matter Minnesota, echoed Yang when speaking to WCCO last May.
"He was an elderly person. He went back into his apartment, so the police had time to de-escalate the situation. He should still be alive today," Crews said.
Xiong's family and community members assembled the Yia Xiong Justice Coalition to push for charges against the officers involved.
"Ever since the BCA, we have been told the same story again and again, and there is no news of any charge against the police that are involved in the case," said coalition member Snowdon Herr. "So we are not happy until charges are and prosecuted and filed."
The investigation and decision not to charge
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension led the investigation, presenting its findings in May 2023 to Ramsey County Attorney John Choi.
Choi asked Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison for assistance in the case. Their offices consulted with use-of-force expert Jeff Noble.
Choi and Ellison came to an agreement that Dahir's use of force was legal.
"The facts of this case and our use of force expert's opinion led us to conclude that Officer Abdirahmin Dahir's use of deadly force was justified under the law and that no criminal charges are appropriate," Choi said in a statement released Wednesday. "I am deeply saddened that this legal decision may deepen the pain for Mr. Yia Xiong's family and community members who wanted something different."
Ellison says their offices "took much care in evaluating the facts" of Xiong's death.
"Our determination in this case is and must be based on what the law requires, and it is a responsibility we take with the greatest seriousness even as we hold the victim and his family in our hearts and minds," Ellison said.
The use of force expert
Noble is currently embroiled in the controversy surrounding the shooting death of Ricky Cobb II in Minneapolis last summer by Minnesota State Patrol Trooper Ryan Londegran.
The Hennepin County Attorney's Office consulted with Noble before the decision was made to charge Londregan with second-degree unintentional murder, first-degree assault and second-degree manslaughter.
Londregan's defense attorneys claim prosecutors, led by County Attorney Mary Moriarty, ignored Noble's opinion that his use of force was reasonable. They also claim prosecutors ignored testimony by the sergeant who created the state patrol's use-of-force training program.
St. Paul City Councilmembers speak out
St. Paul City Councilmembers Anika Bowie, Mitra Jalali and Nelsie Yang released a joint statement on Friday calling on law enforcement and city leaders to make several changes in the wake of Xiong's death.
They want the BCA to release "full unedited body camera footage" of the deadly encounter to examine whether the police department's use of force policy was followed by Dahir and Cha.
They also call on the city to review the department's cultural competency training practices, to push for more de-escalation training, to "appoint impacted individuals to the Police Civilian Internal Affairs Review Commission," and for the Minnesota Board of Peace Officer Standards and Training to better educate law enforcement on "the Hmong American community's history and culture."
Below is an excerpt from their statement:
As Council leaders, we mourn with Mr. Xiong's family, and are deeply disturbed and saddened by the lack of justice for Mr. Xiong and his family. We stand committed to working across sectors and levels of government to address unjust policing. Anytime deadly force is used against another person by police, we need accountability for police action and a sense of closure and justice for those hurt by it – especially in this case, for so many in our Hmong community, and for Mr. Xiong's loved ones. Mr. Xiong should be alive today, and we must reject the notion that his death and all other deaths by the police are inherently justified and non-contextual.
We also hold the pain, anguish and confusion experienced by all residents involved that night, from people at the building who called the police to report an elderly man wielding a knife at their gathering; to members of the Hmong community who lifted up culturally relevant factors in his actions at the time, like the practice of giving children money and patting their heads with blessings for birthdays; and the realization after his death that Mr. Xiong had difficulties hearing and did not speak or understand English. What should have been a safe and peaceful evening for everybody turned irreversibly tragic for all involved.
Today, we honor Mr. Xiong's surviving loved ones and recommit ourselves to action to prevent future tragedies. No act can bring Mr. Xiong back, but the lack of charges being brought forward compounds his loss with a deep sense of injustice for his family and for many in our broader community. We must humanize and remember Mr. Xiong for his sacrifice and service to our country as a decorated veteran of the Secret War in Laos – one of the few remaining Hmong generals from the Vietnam War, who fought alongside the U.S. but was not recognized by the U.S. We must acknowledge the impacts of that service on so many individuals' physical and mental health, including his. And we must not allow police violence to deem anyone an unworthy member of our community, nor their painful final moments to be their life story.