Minnesota
August 24, 2017 — Scott Johnson
Former funnyman and current Minnesota Senator Al Franken titled his best-selling memoir Al Franken, Giant of the Senate. He posed for the book’s self-mocking cover. The title and the photograph make a small concession to self-awareness, or to the public relations value of pretending self-awareness, but he deserves credit for the thought. It’s a joke. Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar pretends no such self-awareness. With the active assistance of her hometown
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August 22, 2017 — Scott Johnson
In Minnesota we have four vacancies to fill for high federal offices: the United States Attorney, the United States Marshal and two federal district court judges. President Trump has nominated Minnesota Supreme Court Justice David Stras to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, but his nomination has been blocked from consideration in the Senate so far by Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar. Approximately no one in Minnesota
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August 12, 2017 — Scott Johnson
I set forth the chain of events that sparked my interest in the 2016 MSP International Airport tour for Somalis only in the post “(DHS) Magical mystery tour (and why I need a lawyer).” Last year I sought information from the Department of Homeland Security Office of Civil Rights (OCR) under the Freedom of Information Act. OCR provided a few heavily redacted pages and rebuffed the administrative law judge when
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August 11, 2017 — Scott Johnson
Mike Mullen is the news editor of Twin Cities alternative weekly CityPages. Last week Mullen took after Mitchell Gunter’s Campus Reform report on a University of Minnesota student group called Tongues Untied. Tongues Untied describes itself as “a space by and for People of Color who identify as LGBTQIA and/or Same-Gender-Loving.” Mullen mocked Gunter’s criticism of the group’s exclusivity. When it comes to argument, Mullen is a practitioner of the
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August 10, 2017 — Scott Johnson
In today’s Star Tribune Stephen Montemayor takes up the fate of the Minnesota edition of the Obama administration’s Countering Violent Extremism Program. The Obama administration’s approach to the problem of radical Islamic terrorism was fraught with stupidity and euphemism. The Trump administration has reform of CVE on its plate. Montemayor takes up the subject with the local angle in his article “As Washington debates how to counter terrorism, Minnesota groups
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August 7, 2017 — Scott Johnson
Last week I wrote about the 2016 edition of the annual Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport tour conducted for Somalis only by officers of Customs and Border Protection in the Department of Homeland Security. The tour gives local Somali Muslim community leaders a behind the scenes look at security and processing at the airport. The post and the redacted documents provided by CBP in response to my FOIA request are here.
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August 5, 2017 — Scott Johnson
The shooting of Justine Damond by Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor is under investigation by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. When the investigation is complete, the BCA’s file will be turned over to Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman for possible prosecution. This week I sought to update the case through correspondence with the BCA. They’re still working on it; they’ll get back to us when they’re done. My update
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August 4, 2017 — Scott Johnson
President Trump has nominated Minnesota Supreme Court Justice David Stras to a vacancy on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. His nomination is supported by just about everyone in Minnesota, yet his confirmation is stalled by the failure of Minnesota Senators Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken to return their blue slips on Justice Stras. It’s not that they oppose Stras — as I say, nobody does
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August 3, 2017 — Scott Johnson
St. Paul’s Hassan “Jaamici” Mohamud is a legal assistant who withdrew as a member of Mohamed Farah’s defense team in the case of the “Minnesota men.” The “Minnesota men” made headlines around the country when they were charged and subsequently convicted of seeking to join ISIS in Syria. Hassan Mohamud wears many hats. His home base is the Minnesota Da’wah Institute, where he serves as the imam. Mohamud was born
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August 3, 2017 — Scott Johnson
What happened in the killing of spiritual healer Justine Damond by Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor in the alley outside her home in southwest Minneapolis? The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating Ms. Damond’s shooting. It has released only one somewhat cryptic statement on the investigation. Ms. Damond had called 911 to seek help for what she feared was a rape in progress outside her home late on the
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July 30, 2017 — Scott Johnson
Minneapolis Democrats failed to endorse a candidate for mayor at their recent convention. My guess is that Mayor Betsy Hodges’s prospects for reelection must approach zero asymptotically in the wake of the inexplicable and so far unexplained killing of Justine Damond by Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor. Two weeks after the killing we remain in the dark. Nine Democrats including Hodges are vying for the honor of municipal leadership. It’s
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July 26, 2017 — Scott Johnson
Politically correct opinion has imposed a stifling new orthodoxy on thinking about the phenomenon of gender confusion with astonishing rapidity. Reflecting the new orthodoxy, the Minnesota Department of Education advisory council has just approved a new “toolkit” for “Safe and Supportive Schools for Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students.” The “toolkit” is to be disseminated to all public schools in Minnesota. The DoE has posted the “toolkit” online. The Star Tribune
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July 23, 2017 — Scott Johnson
When three Somali Minnesotans went to trial in Minneapolis last year on terrorism charges, the New York Times skipped the proceedings. Times reporter Jack Healy arrived in town just in time for the verdicts. Healy’s article reporting the verdicts, written with freelancer Matt Furber, turned for comment to Burhan Mohumed, a “community organizer” and friend of the defendants who condemned the verdicts as “purely political.” Judge Michael Davis presided at
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July 21, 2017 — Scott Johnson
As I say — and do forgive me for repeating myself — the shooting of the unarmed and pajama clad spiritual healer Justine Damond by Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor opens a window onto the sick culture that reigns in Minneapolis. No sooner had idiot Minneapolis mayor Betsy Hodges fired number 22 World Leader and Minneapolis Police Chief Janee Harteau than Hodges sought to expound on her deep thoughts for
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July 21, 2017 — Scott Johnson
In “The loud noise heard round the world,” I wrote that the “loud noise” that the shooting of the unamred and pajama clad healer Justine Damond by Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor opens a window onto the sick culture that reigns in Minneapolis. What a crew. Idiot mayor Betsy Hodges perfectly represents it. Running for reelection this year, Hodges made her presence felt today. Hodges addressed the shooting crisis by
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July 21, 2017 — Scott Johnson
Minneapolis Police Chief Janeé Harteau returned from vacation and held a press conference yesterday afternoon on the shooting death of Justine Damond by Officer Mohamed Noor. The Star Tribune reports on the press conference here along with two-minute audio excerpts. The Star Tribune has also posted video of the entire press conference on Facebook here. The department’s video of Chief Harteau’s statement is posted on YouTube. I have embedded it
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July 20, 2017 — Scott Johnson
I wrote about the ongoing cage match between Minnesota Democratic Governor Mark Dayton and Minnesota’s majority-Republican House and Senate here and here. It’s an interesting story that deserves national attention as a sign of the political times. At the end of this year’s slightly extended legislative session Dayton signed all tax and budget bills. He could have vetoed any of them. Even though he professed extreme unhappiness with certain items,
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