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Aitkin County man illegally possessed guns, child porn, researched police ambushes

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Law enforcement investigating an Aitkin County man suspected of illegal gun possession also found hundreds of files of child pornography and web searches on his phone related to police ambushes and killings, according to new federal charges.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office last week charged Juan Michael Smith, 46, with being a felon in possession of a firearm via a criminal complaint, a little more than a week after he was arrested on similar state charges.

According to the federal criminal complaint, a sergeant from the Aitkin County Sheriff’s Office began investigating Smith following a tip from a concerned citizen on Feb. 12. The concerned citizen ? who knew Smith ? reported that Smith was in possession of more than 100 guns at a residence Smith recently purchased in Verdon Township, more than 150 miles north of Minneapolis.

Smith has multiple prior felony convictions and is registered as a predatory offender in Minnesota, all of which render him ineligible to possess firearms or ammunition. Law enforcement late last month obtained a series of search warrants for Smith’s residence, his vehicle and cellphone. During a traffic stop on Feb. 24, Smith told investigators that they would find firearms at his home but that they belonged to his daughter.

Inside the residence, officers found four firearms in plain view: a Tisas model 1911 .45 caliber semiautomatic pistol, a Rossi model RS22 .22 caliber rifle, an American Tactical model Alpha Maxx multicaliber rifle and a Tokarev model TAR 12P 12-gauge semiautomatic shotgun.

Officers also found various calibers of ammunition in the living room and kitchen, and suspected cocaine on the kitchen table. He was later arrested and charged with possessing firearms and ammunition as a felon before being released on bail.

According to an affidavit signed by a special agent for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), law enforcement searching Smith’s phone found a “large amount” of child pornography on the phone. This allegedly included hundreds of files that showed “clearly prepubescent children being sexually abused and assaulted by adults.”

They also uncovered screen captures of online purchases of firearms that were shipped to a federally licensed dealer in Robbinsdale. And Smith allegedly sent text messages a woman believed to be his daughter in which he tells her that he had ordered firearms and needed her to pick them up.

The affidavit notes that some of the phone’s internet search history included references to violence against law enforcement, including a search for “supplies” used by a man who ambushed and killed five police officers in Dallas, Texas, in 2005.

Smith has prior felony convictions that include domestic assault in 2001, third-degree drug possession in 2016 and failure to register as a predatory offender in 2019 ? all in Stearns County.

Charges against Smith were unsealed Friday after he made his first appearance. U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Cowan Wright ordered Smith to be temporarily detained and he remains in federal custody in Sherburne County Jail. Smith is next scheduled to appear in court on Friday for a detention hearing and preliminary examination. A message has been left seeking comment from an attorney listed for Smith.



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Two killed in second Minneapolis encampment shooting of weekend

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Two men are dead and one woman was injured in a shooting at a homeless encampment in south Minneapolis on Sunday afternoon, police said. It was the second shooting at a Minneapolis encampment this weekend.

At about 2:20 p.m. Sunday, police responded to a reported shooting in the 4400 block of Snelling Avenue near the railroad tracks at the small encampment between Snelling and Hiawatha avenues. At the scene, officers found two men with fatal gunshot wounds, said Sgt. Garrett Parten Minneapolis Police spokesman. Responders rendered aid, but both men died at the scene.

A woman was found at the scene with life-threatening injuries and was taken to a local hospital where she was being treated Sunday night, he said. Police have yet to say whether the three were living at the encampment.

Officers detained three people, who Parten said have since been released after police found they were not believed to be involved in the shooting. No suspects had been identified as of 6:30 p.m. Sunday.

The shooting is the second at a southside homeless encampment this weekend. One man died and two were critically injured early Saturday at an encampment shooting near E. 21st Street and 15th Avenue S. On Sunday, the man was identified as Deven Leonard Caston, 31, according to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office.

“We don’t know if there’s a connection between this homeless encampment shooting and the one that occurred yesterday,” Parten said on Sunday. “That is a consideration of the investigation. We can’t rule it out.”

Ward 12 Council Member Aurin Chowdhury, who represents the area and lives nearby, was at the site of the shooting Sunday afternoon. She said officials need information about what happened to better understand how to address situations like this long-term.

“This is an absolute tragedy, and this type of violence should never occur within our city,” she said. “It really makes me think about how we need to look at this more systemically and not just take a whack-a-mole approach and expect the problem to go away.



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Walz plays Madden video game with AOC on Twitch

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During Sunday’s Twitch stream, Walz and Ocasio-Cortez played Madden while discussing making homebuying more accessible, building affordable housing, eliminating student loan debt and raising the federal minimum wage.

After the match, Walz showed off his Sega skills in a round of “Crazy Taxi,” the Y2K-era racing game where gamers play as a taxi driver picking up passengers and taking them to their destination for cash.

Walz called himself a “first-generation gamer” and recalled playing “Crazy Taxi” when he bought a Sega Dreamcast. He also mentioned the Minnesota Star Tribune’s coverage of how his old game console was sold and ended up with a Plymouth resident, who still has it.

Afterward, Walz and Ocasio-Cortez watched a short clip of Trump denying on Rogan’s podcast that he lost the 2020 presidential election. Democrat Joe Biden won that year.

Ocasio-Cortez during the livestream also showed viewers her farm on the cozy, indie game Stardew Valley. Walz said the game reminded him of Minnesota: “You’ve got mining,” he said. “You’ve got agriculture. You’ve got snow.”

Before Walz headed out to a rally in Nevada, he pleaded with viewers to vote. More than 12,000 viewers tuned into the livestream on Ocasio-Cortez’s Twitch channel. More watched from Harris’ channel.



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Trump’s Madison Square Garden event turns into a rally with crude and racist insults

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”Hey guys, they’re now scrambling and trying to call us Nazis and fascists,” said Alina Habba, one of Trump’s attorneys, who draped a sparkly ”MAGA” jacket over the lectern as she spoke. ”And you know what they’re claiming, guys? It’s very scary. They’re claiming we’re going to go after them and try and put them in jail. Well, ain’t that rich?”

Declared Hogan in his characteristic raspy growl: ”I don’t see no stinkin’ Nazis in here.”

Trump has denounced the four criminal indictments brought against him as politically motivated. He has ramped up his denunciations in recent weeks of ”enemies from within,” naming domestic political rivals, and suggested he would use the military to go after them. Harris, in turn, has called Trump a ”fascist.”

The arena was full hours before Trump was scheduled to speak. Outside the arena, the sidewalks were overflowing with Trump supporters in red ”Make America Great Again” hats. There was a heavy security presence. Streets were blocked off and access to Penn Station was restricted.

In the crowd was Philip D’Agostino, a longtime Trump backer from Queens, the borough where Trump grew up. The 64-year-old said it was appropriate for Trump to be speaking at a place bills itself as ”the world’s most famous arena.”

”It just goes to show ya that he has a bigger following of any man that has ever lived,” D’Agostino said.



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