“A Rochester woman,” as they say, pleaded guilty last week to being an accessory after the fact to arson of multiple St. Paul businesses during the George Floyd riots. According to court documents summarized in a local United States Attorney press release, on May 28 last year Mena Dhaya Yousif and husband Jose Angel Felan Jr. went to several businesses located on University Avenue in St. Paul:
Felan allegedly set fire to the Goodwill retail store, the Gordon Parks High School, and the 7 Mile Sportswear store. Over the course of the following week, Yousif aided and abetted Felan as he fled from Minnesota to Texas, before crossing the border into Mexico. Yousif traveled with Felan and assisted his escape by destroying evidence and providing false information to law enforcement.
In February 2021, Felan and Yousif were arrested by Mexican law enforcement authorities and returned to the United States to face prosecution.
Arson charges remain pending against Felan. Checking with ICE, I understand that Yousif and Felan were apprehended as fugitives in Mexico and that both are citizens of the United States.
The damage done in the aftermath of Floyd’s death on Memorial Day 2030 extended to 1,500 businesses and buildings in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Estimates place the damage at $500 million. This crime wave was largely inspired by the abandonment of the Minneapolis Police Department’s Third Precinct headquarters and its subsequent burning on the evening of May 28. It is absolutely astounding how quickly thugs from all over the state descended on the Twin Cities and devastated civic order.
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