MOORHEAD, Minn. (KFGO-AM) - The owner of a Moorhead, Minn. hookah lounge has filed a formal complaint against the city with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights.
Daniel Omane is the owner of “Hookah's On Main" at 819 Main Avenue. Moorhead recently denied Omane's application for a tobacco license renewal because over the past year, there have been a growing number of police calls to the business.
Omane tells KFGO News that he believes the city is discriminating against him because he's black. “All year long, I’m being harassed, I’m being profiled. Every single weekend, they have detectives in unmarked cars in the parking lot” Omane said. “They have the right to do so, but I don’t believe they do that to any other businesses.
“Everything has to do with the chief of police, his dislike for my business and his dislike for black people", Omane said. "I will say this up front; the chief has a problem with race and a problem with black people.”
But Moorhead Police Chief Dave Ebinger says the city's concerns about the hookah shop are real. “A number of times, we had to respond to complaints of crowds, noise, litter, drug use, alcohol use, fighting” Ebinger said. “We did not see the level of cooperation with management that we see with a lot of businesses in this community. When it came time for review, there were a number of concerns I had.”
Omane says the problems were caused by people in the parking lot that he shares with other businesses; not within the hookah lounge itself.
Omane has appealed the city's decision. He'll argue his case before the city council on March 23rd.