The attack was condemned by civil rights groups as part of a larger rise of Islamophobia in the United States leading up the 2016 presidential election.

Minneapolis has a large immigrant Somali-Muslim population and there have been several anti-Muslim and anti-Somali incidents in Minnesota within the past few years.

On Oct. 30, 2015, Asma Jama (a Muslim woman of Somali descent and Kenyan nationality) was beaten for speaking Swahili in an Applebee's in the outskirts of Minneapolis.

[3] Anthony Sawina, aged 26, was leaving a bar with friends at 2:30 a.m. when they encountered a group of five Somali men wearing traditional qamis, who had been playing basketball nearby and were walking towards their car.

Instead of shaking hands, the Somali men continued to climb into their car and another of Sawina's companions shouted, "Fuck Muslims.

At this point, Sawina was alleged to have drawn a gun and begun shooting at the Somalis, hitting the car windshield.

[10] Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Minnesota (CAIR-MN), stated the attack was evidence of growing tension and fear for Muslims across America.