Tag Archives: Minnesota

CNN reports: Voters in the city rejected a ballot measure to overhaul policing drafted amid the national fury over George Floyd’s murder by a police officer but that went to voters as rising concerns about gun violence drained energy from the protest movement that had launched it. CNN on Tuesday projected that Minneapolis Question 2 had failed, effectively ending a …

The Associated Press reports: The former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murder in George Floyd’s death intends to appeal his conviction and sentence, saying the judge abused his discretion or erred during several key points in the case, according to documents filed Thursday. Derek Chauvin said he intends to appeal on 14 grounds. Among them, he claims Judge Peter Cahill …

Via press release from the Justice Department: Emily Claire Hari, 50, f/k/a Michael Hari, was sentenced to life in prison for the Aug. 5, 2017, bombing of the Dar al-Farooq (DAF) Islamic Center in Bloomington, Minnesota. On Dec. 9, 2020, following a five-week trial, Hari was convicted by a federal jury on all five counts of the indictment, including intentionally …

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports: Minnesota Republican leaders forced Jennifer Carnahan out as head of the state party on Thursday, turning a page on a scandal that threatened to consume GOP politics ahead of a pivotal election year. Carnahan leaves as chair of the party amid allegations that she created a toxic workplace environment, one that blurred personal and professional lines, …

Minnesota Public Radio reports: Republican Party of Minnesota Chair Jennifer Carnahan [photo] faced growing calls to resign this weekend, in the wake of a major GOP donor and activist being indicted on sex trafficking charges. More than a half-dozen GOP state legislators have publicly called on Carnahan to step down after news of Thursday’s indictment of Anton “Tony” Lazzaro. Multiple …

The Daily Beast reports: Anton Lazzaro, a young Republican strategist and former congressional campaign manager in Minnesota, was arrested on underage sex trafficking charges Thursday morning, according to federal law enforcement. Lazzaro, an occasional Fox News guest who flaunted his wealthy lifestyle on social media, was indicted on five counts of sex trafficking of a minor, one count of attempting …

Law & Crime reports: A Minnesota woman waving a “Trump 2024” out the window of an SUV drove onto the lawn of the State Capitol building Monday and interrupted a news conference being held in support of embattled Black state Democratic Rep. John Thompson, news outlets reported on Monday. Footage of the incident appears to show the woman driving onto …

The Minnesota Reformer reports: During a ceremonial signing on Thursday morning, DFL Gov. Tim Walz issued an executive order that will restrict so-called “conversion therapy” for minors, bypassing lawmakers in the GOP-led Senate who have blocked legislation to end the practice. The executive order is not as comprehensive as a previous DFL effort in the Legislature to outright ban the …

Minneapolis’s CBS News affiliate reports: Sources tell WCCO that, as part of the plea, Chauvin could get a 20- to 25-year sentence, which he would serve at the same time as the state sentence, and that he would serve his time in federal not state prison. If convicted in federal court, Chauvin could face life in prison. Former Hennepin County …

Law & Crime reports: A truck driver who drove his rig through a large crowd of demonstrators protesting the death of George Floyd on a Minnesota highway last summer will no longer face criminal charges, provided he does not get into trouble with the law for the next year. Bogdan Vechirko, 36, and prosecutors in Hennepin County reached a deal—called …

ABC News reports: The Pulitzer Prizes recognize some of the year’s most important journalism. This year, someone who isn’t a professional journalist, but whose actions had as much impact as any, is among those being honored. Darnella Frazier, who filmed the death of George Floyd, received a special citation, Aminda Marqués González, co-chair of the Pulitzer Prize Board, announced Friday. …

The St. Paul Pioneer Press reports: A Donald Trump supporter who was seen on video striking a Twin Cities photojournalist before the then-president’s Duluth rally last fall has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge. Duane Waldriff, 71, of Lamberton, Minn., entered the plea to a count of disorderly conduct at a virtual hearing Friday in St. Louis County District Court …

Minneapolis’s CBS News affiliate reports: A 50-year-old Lino Lakes man pleaded guilty Tuesday to attacking an elderly couple with a golf club and his fists over a Joe Biden campaign sign last November in White Bear Lake. The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office says Mark Anthony Ulsaker took a plea deal, which dropped the most serious charges against him: second-degree assault …

“My message to folks is there’s a lot of good reasons to get vaccinated, but for some of them, you know, if you need another one, go get vaccinated so you’re alive to vote against me in the next election. “I don’t care. I just want to get it done. It’s not assuming these people are hesitant, they’re ideologically opposed. …

Last month I reported that a Minnesota man declared that he’s ready to go to jail over his massive and illegal Trump flag flying from a construction crane over his business. Today Newsmax conducted a fawning interview after the man hoisted a new and even larger flag that features Trump’s name alongside his “new vice president” JFK Jr. Oh, and …

The Daily Beast reports: The keynote speaker at a Minnesota county Republican Party’s event last month told members that George Floyd’s murder at the hands of police was “planned since 2016.” On March 27, New Zealand author Trevor Loudon addressed an audience of hundreds of members of the Wabasha County Republican Party at a dinner in a church, the Bemidji …

The Washington Post reports: With its ill-equipped natural gas systems clocked by the cold, Texas’s exports across the Rio Grande froze up and 4.7 million customers in northern Mexico went without electricity — more than in Texas itself. The spot price of gas jumped 30-fold as far west as Southern California. And all the way up by the Canadian border, …

The Minnesota Daily reports: A new bill proposed in the Minnesota Legislature would make anyone convicted of a crime at a protest ineligible for student loans and many other forms of state financial aid. The bill, authored by Sen. David Osmek (R- Mound), states that “A person convicted of a criminal offense related to the person’s illegal conduct at a …

The Hill reports: A Minnesota man was arrested Wednesday for assault after he allegedly drove away while a police officer’s arm was trapped in his truck window. Luke Alvin Oeltjenbruns was stopped by law enforcement in Hutchinson, Minn., after they received reports that he had been involved in an altercation over a mask. During the incident, Oeltjenbruns allegedly hit a …

CNN reports: A police officer who authorities say shot and killed a Black man in a Minneapolis suburb after a traffic stop has been charged with second-degree manslaughter, a prosecutor said Wednesday. Brooklyn Center police Officer Kim Potter is charged in Sunday’s shooting death of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, Washington County Attorney Pete Orput said. In Minnesota, second-degree manslaughter applies when …