‘She was brilliant.’ SeaTac Council member, immigrant rights advocate mourned after car crash

The prayer service for SeaTac City Councilmember Amina Ahmed was held Monday at a mosque in Tukwila. Dozens showed up to pay their respects.

Hamdi Mohamed was supposed to meet up with Councilmember Ahmed on Saturday, the day she was killed in a car crash.

"I called her at 4:00 a couple of times on the phone and she didn't answer and thirty minutes later I got a call from my auntie asking me if I had heard the news," Mohamed said, "It was shocking. It was unbelievable.”

Ahmed had only joined the council seven weeks ago.

She was an advocate for immigrant rights and had worked with Mohamed at Refugee Women's Alliance.

"She was a mentor, a friend," said Mohamed. "She was brilliant. She was brave."

Mohamed said Ahmed helped bridge the gap between the council and Muslim-Somali community in the city.

At Monday's service at Abubakr Islamic Center in Tukwila the prayer room was packed with mourners.

Governor Jay Inslee spoke to her public service.

"With the amount of people that are out here, you can see how loved she was," said Mohamed, "and how many people she has touched and the sort of impact that she's made in our city and our state.”

“Someone who we are going to miss forever, but you know her light is not going to be dimmed. We're going to continue doing that work.”

A vigil will be held at SeaTac City Hall Tuesday at 5:00.