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Tracking hate crimes part of public safety bill
Dept. of Human Rights would be tasked with gather information on hate crimes and other bias-motivated incidents.
ST PAUL, Minn. — A sweeping piece of public safety legislation that passed the Minnesota House Wednesday includes a provision aimed at gathering more data on hate crimes and other incidents of racial bias.
It’s a response to community groups that asked for new ways to document bias-motivated attacks outside of law enforcement channels, and to report incidents that create fear but don’t necessarily rise to the level of a chargeable offense.
It would require the Minnesota Department of Human Rights to collect information on racially motivated incidents and create a database that would enable the staff to look for trends.
“What my bill addresses is to make sure to document what is happening, truly happening, in our communities,” Rep. Samantha Vang, a Brooklyn Park Democrat, told reporters Wednesday.
“My bill allows community members, community organizations to work with the Department of Human Rights to document hate and bias incidents happening on the ground, so communities have a place to show they fear for their safety, that they fear for their life.”
Fellow Democrat Rep. Hodan Hassan said some persons don’t feel comfortable making reports to police, and law enforcement in some cases won’t classify an incident as a hate crime until an arrest can be made and the suspect can be questioned about motive.
“Different groups that say, ‘Oh, there’s a lot of hate happening,’ and they will say, ‘Oh there’s no data about it. No one’s reporting it.’ If there’s no data, it doesn’t exist. But communities that live in fear are not going to go out of their way to come to law enforcement and report this.”
Hodan and Vang appeared at a Capitol press conference that drew a huge crowd of DFL lawmakers, Attorney General Keith Ellison, St. Paul’s Mayor Melvin Carter and many others.
They were there to show solidarity with the Somali immigrant community in the wake of arson attacks on two Minneapolis mosques earlier in the week.
“This is how we show up for each other. This is the Minnesota that all of us believe in. This is the Minnesota that we want,” Hassan told reporters.
“But out there is some notion that we don’t belong. I belong in Minnesota. I’m a Minnesotan, but I’m also Muslim Minnesotan. I’m also American, a Somali American, and I’m proud of ALL of my layers.”
Rep. Samakab Hussein of St. Paul said it’s about more than just one community or one religious faith group.
“It’s not only the Muslim community that has been attacked. All faith has been attacked in our state. There’s no place for hate in Minnesota.”
Mayor Carter echoed those sentiments.
“An attack against a mosque is an attack against a synagogue. That an attack against a synagogue is an attack against a Black Baptist church, because we all stand here together.”
During the debate on the bill, which lasted 10 hours and straddled two calendar days, Republicans objected to the idea of the state gathering data on hate incidents that aren’t classified as crimes by police.
“It’s government collecting data about speech that is not criminal and therefore has no compelling state interest in being collected,” GOP Rep. Walter Hudson of Albertville asserted.
“In committee it was said we’re going to use this data to identify hot spots of bias, to label communities as problematic, based upon subjective, unverified, un-objective, vague, arbitrary claims of bias!”
Rep. Harry Niska, a Princeton Republican, offered an amendment that would replace the word “incident” with the word “crime” based on the idea that private citizens who merely express different opinions could be accused of bias and then added to a government database.
The amendment failed. House Majority Leader Jamie Long of Minneapolis discounted those GOP objections.
“It’s really offensive in a week we’ve seen attacks like this, hate crimes like this in our communities, that the first thing our colleagues across the aisle jump to is some sort of conspiracy theory, deep dive hole,” Rep. Long said.
“They’re talking about Big Brother, we’re talking about brotherhood, sisterhood, community, trying to keep all of us together and make sure we are protecting each other, and we are tracking incidents so that we know how to best respond.”
The child was taken to a nearby hospital to be treated for scratches and bite wounds to the head, face and legs.
BREMERTON, Wash. — A child and their mother were attacked by a river otter at the Bremerton Marina Thursday morning.
According to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), a woman and her young child were walking on a dock around 9:30 a.m. when the river otter pulled the child into the water. The woman said the child was underwater for a few moments before resurfacing.
WDFW officials say the otter kept attacking the woman while she pulled the child out of the water.
The child was treated at a hospital in Silverdale for scratches and bite wounds to the head, face and legs. The woman was bit on the arm.
“We are grateful the victim only sustained minor injuries due to the mother’s quick actions and child’s resiliency,” said WDFW Sergeant Ken Balazs said in a prepared statement. “We would also like to thank the Port of Bremerton for their quick coordination and communication to their marina tenants.”
According to WDFW, the otters in the marina will be “trapped and lethally removed” by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services, then tested for rabies.
River otter attacks are rare, and WDFW officials advise against instigating any close encounters. There have been six documented human-river otter incidents in Washington state in the last decade.
“When we do see this on the rare occasion that it does occur, it’s for territoriality or protecting its pups. If it’s a female, protecting its pups,” said Matt Blankenship with the WDFW.
And while many think of them as cute, curious creatures. They can cause serious injuries.
Jen Royce, who lives in Bozeman, Montana, was attacked by a river otter last summer. The damage was extensive.
“I had really large bite wounds on each cheek. A really big gash on this left side of my eye here.. luckily it didn’t get my eye.. it bit through my nose,” Royce said.
She wants to urge others to be cautious around the animal.
“My main goal is to spread awareness. I don’t want people to go out and kill otters. That’s not what this is about. It’s about trying to be more prepared in nature,” Royce said. “Not to let your guard down and hopefully, if someone learns something from my story. I feel like that’s why I’m still here.”
Medtronic’s latest Deep Brain Stimulation device allows Bruce Lunde to control his tremors remotely, with a cell phone, and that’s not all.
MERRIFIELD, Minn. — Bruce Lunde has never let his age stop him from staying active, so when Parkinson’s Disease threatened to slow him down at the age of 81, he decided to take action.
Lunde recently underwent surgery in order to become the first patient in the upper Midwest to receive Medtronic’s latest Deep Brain Stimulation device.
“Within seconds my tremor was gone,” Lunde said, recalling the moment doctors activated the device, which was implanted via surgery. “It’s amazing what they can do.”
A Very Active Octogenarian
After teaching in Edina for 35 years, Bruce and his wife, Gail Lunde, retired to the woods of central Minnesota, where they remain today.
“I enjoy cutting wood and I enjoy splitting wood,” said Lunde, who relies on a wood-burning stove to heat their home. “I like to have enough on hand to stay a year ahead, so I don’t sit around too much.”
Lunde is also active in his church choir and enjoys running and boxing, so it didn’t take long for his tremors to begin to impact his life.
“The tremor was bothering me more, particularly when I was singing,” he recalled. “I couldn’t hold my sheet music. I tried medication but I felt like my tremor didn’t improve.”
When doctors first diagnosed Bruce with Parkinson’s Disease a few years ago, they told him he might be a good candidate for deep brain stimulation.
“It’s changing the way that the brain networks work, enhancing the pathways that help you move,” said Dr. Robert McGovern, a neurosurgeon at M Health Fairview.
But brain surgery is required in order to make that possible.
“It’s one long kind of wire that gets sent into the brain,” Dr. McGovern said. “We implant two tiny electrodes and calibrate them. They are connected to that wire which then connects to the device.”
Though Brain Stimulation Devices have been around for many years, Dr. McGovern says early batteries often didn’t last beyond just 2-3 years and required additional surgeries to replace.
When Medtronic began introducing wireless charging capabilities in recent years, it was a game changer for many patients, including Bruce.
“It’s charging right now and I just sit like this,” Bruce said, showing off the charging pad draped over his shoulder that indicated that it was connected to the DBS device implanted in the upper part of his chest.
“I wasn’t interested in undergoing multiple surgeries,” he said. “This battery is expected to last more than 10 years.”
In addition to the wireless charging, Bruce can also calibrate his own device with nothing more than a few taps on a cell phone. That means he can consult his doctors from his home and dial in his treatment around his lifestyle.
“The tremor isn’t 100% gone,” he said. “But what a blessing it has been. I feel normal again.”
Dr. McGovern said the most exciting aspect of the device may be yet to come. It features Medtronic’s new BrainSense Technology.
Dr. McGovern: “One of the cool things about it is it actually records the brain signals on the device to individualize the therapy.”
Kent Erdahl: “So, in a sense, the device is getting smarter?”
Dr. McGovern: “Yeah. One, we can learn more about what’s happening in the brain throughout the course of the disease. Two, we know that it works already, but this is potentially a way to make it a lot better.”
Despite all of that promise, Dr. McGovern said he is grateful for Bruce’s courage to embrace the new technology at his age, something even Gail struggled with initially.
“It’s something I have a hard time thinking about,” Gail said, recalling the first time she learned about the surgery. “I didn’t want it to be done, but Bruce was ready for it. So we did it.”
They are both grateful they did.
“I don’t worry too much about it,” Bruce said. “I feel confident that I’m going to be able to function for a long time.”
“The memories are intense,” Beth Eilers, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 14, said.
APPLE VALLEY, Minn. — It’s been nearly seven months since two Burnsville police officers and a firefighter/paramedic were killed in the line of duty. Since then, grief has been hard to overcome for many in the departments.
“The memories are intense,” Beth Eilers, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 14, said. “It will stick with them forever, it just get’s lighter, gets a little bit further back.”
Eilers says a potential source of closure will come as the names of those three – Adam Finseth, Paul Elmstrand and Matthew Ruge – are enshrined on national memorials in Washington, DC, next year. Getting there is expensive, though.
That’s why hundreds came to Bogart’s in Apple Valley Thursday for a fundraiser to get those departments there next year.
“This is dedicated to getting the whole force to Washington, DC, for the dedication,” Chris Loth, co-owner of Bogarts Entertainment Center, said. “It’s a way to honor those who risk their lives to take care of us, to keep us safe.”
Money raised from tickets to get in for a show by Good for Gary, along with a silent auction, will all go towards that goal. Amy and Tom Strese came from Farmington to show their support.
“Super important that they can honor their brothers that we lost,” Amy said.
“You can’t take back that engraving,” Tom added. “So when it gets engraved, and everybody can view it, that solidifies their sacrifice.”
While hearts were heavy inside Bogart’s Thursday night, Eilers knows that money will help.
“It’s a sad night that has a good ending,” she said.
Loth says they’d like to hold more events like this in the future.
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