Last week, 23-year-old Somali American woman Nasra Ahmed was everywhere. She was explaining her identity with a sticky metaphor. Pun intended! “It’s kind of like bananas and rice,” she said at a Jan. 21 news conference.
“People don’t think you can eat bananas with rice, but that’s what it’s like to be Somali and American.”
The phrase traveled to TikTok and Instagram reels soon. It became a symbol of immigrant identity in America. But a few days later, a federal arrest list tied Ahmed to violent unrest in Minneapolis.
Ahmed is now one of 16 people who were accused of participating in a riot and assaulting or impeding federal officers, according to the Justice Department. This protest happened when Attorney General Pam Bondi announced aggressive enforcement actions after the deadly clashes between protesters and ICE agents.
“I am on the ground in Minneapolis today,” Bondi wrote on X.
“Federal agents have arrested 16 Minnesota rioters for allegedly assaulting federal law enforcement.”
Back on the ground in Minneapolis today with @RealTomHoman, @AAGDhillon, @FBI Christopher Raia, and MN U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen @DMNnews.
We will NOT tolerate lawlessness in Minnesota. Nothing will stop us from continuing to make arrests and enforce the law. President Trump… pic.twitter.com/0SYtmn0cKa
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) January 28, 2026
The arrests only added to the tensions in Minneapolis. The city has seen the fatal Jan. 24 shooting of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen and ICU nurse, who Border Patrol agents killed during an ICE operation.
According to the video and witnesses, Pretti was trying to help a woman whom agents had knocked to the ground. That’s when he was sprayed with an irritant and shoved. An agent was later seen removing Pretti’s lawful firearm from his waistband before other agents fired multiple shots and killed him.
It was the second fatal encounter with federal agents in Minneapolis this month, after the ICE-involved killing of Renee Nicole Good. That shooting also ignited protests across the U.S.
The Justice Department says protecting federal agents has now become a top priority as demonstrations are resulting in clashes. Bondi also warned that more arrests are coming and that “NOTHING will stop President Trump and this Department of Justice from enforcing the law.”
Thus, Ahmed’s sudden fall is grounded in crisis. Her “bananas and rice” comment resonated because it was easily understandable. But digital rights groups have warned that platforms like TikTok can also weaponize one’s identity.
BREAKING: Nasra Ahmed, the lady who went viral for saying “Somalia is more then bananas and rice”, has been arrested in Minneapolis for assauIting federal officers.
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) January 28, 2026
Research by Global Voices Advox has shown how TikTok’s algorithm rewards polarizing content within Somali communities, which often flattens identities. Once a phrase or persona gains traction, it can escape its original context and become a target.
Federal officials have released the names and images of all 16 individuals and charged them with assaulting or obstructing federal officers in Minneapolis. The list now includes a young woman who recently went viral.
Ahmed has not been convicted yet.
NEXT UP: Bruce Springsteen’s ICE Protest Anthem, ‘Streets of Minneapolis,’ Slams “King Trump’s Private Army”
