Star Tribune
Owatonna man who threatened to kill police at Capitol tried to get shotgun back, build new guns
An illegally possessed shotgun, and posts about killing law enforcement amid armed protests at the Minnesota Capitol in 2021, landed Dayton Sauke in federal prison for the first time.
Now, the 25-year-old Owatonna man is being sent back to prison after authorities recently caught him trying to traffic drugs purchased on the dark web and attempting to get his hands back on that shotgun while making efforts to build his own firearms. All the while, probation officials added, Sauke hasn’t let up on espousing interests in violent extremist causes.
U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel on Tuesday sentenced Sauke to two years in federal prison and another year of supervised release after federal probation officers outlined a litany of recent violations to the terms of his original sentence.
Sauke served part of his original 30-month sentence in prison before transitioning to a residential reentry center last year. He soon racked up violations there that spurred an initial return to court in July 2023 that included testimony that Sauke made references to the Oklahoma City bombing and expressed suicidal ideations. Brasel updated Sauke’s supervised release conditions at the time to include new restrictions on his internet use and access to materials deemed to be “extremist.”
According to court filings, Senior Probation Officer Brian James testified in July 2023 that Sauke made references to the Oklahoma City bombing and expressed suicidal ideations. Earlier this month, James testified that law enforcement found images on Sauke’s phone of an “apparent nazi youth saluting with an apparent swastika flag,” and a “Pepe the frog” cartoon holding an assault rifle – a meme commonly associated with white supremacist groups and movements.
James also testified that Sauke’s cellphone had a downloaded picture of someone convicted of a felony holding a gun and wearing garb with some insignia identifying the person as a “Boogaloo Boi.”
Federal authorities arrested Sauke this month after Homeland Securities Investigations agents seized a package containing 259 grams of MDMA, or ecstasy, that had been mailed from the United Kingdom to Sauke in February. He was also accused of lying to his probation officer about restricted internet use, and unauthorized communications with a known felon regarding drug sales and prices.
Messages were left seeking comment from Sauke’s attorney. In court Tuesday, Sauke admitted to the violations before being sentenced to the new prison term.
According to testimony, investigators also uncovered text messages between Sauke and his sister and significant other showing at least two requests to have his seized shotgun returned to him. Sauke also downloaded a guide to build privately made firearms and allegedly entered into a layaway agreement to buy a machine for that purpose last year.
He asked his sister for a laptop, impact drill, Dremel power tool and his shotgun in December, and followed up on Feb. 9, 2024 with a message indicating that he received the laptop, impact drill and Dremel.
Later that morning, he texted his sister: “Well you just gave me all the power tools I need to build guns again.”
In a previous Feb. 5 text exchange regarding his shotgun, Sauke referred to “possibly blowing someone’s head off,” according to court documents.
Sauke was first arrested in 2021 after selling an illegal firearm to two undercover agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). The ATF began monitoring Sauke in 2020 after a confidential informant said he posted on social media about manufacturing and selling guns.
Agents discovered many social media posts reflecting anti-government extremist sentiments similar to the Boogaloo Bois. According to court records. Sauke posted on Snapchat and his public-facing Instagram page photos of himself holding guns alongside far-right sentiments and expressions of a desire to kill someone, namely a police officer or politician.
On Jan. 12, 2021, as plans circulated for armed rallies at the Minnesota Capitol to protest the results of the presidential election, Sauke began to post more about killing law enforcement there, and appeared to urge others to do the same. Three days later, he met the ATF agents in a Walmart parking lot in Faribault. Both posed as potential customers interested in buying guns. He sold one of the agents a gun for $1,500, and they paid him another $900 after negotiating another sale.
Sauke told the agents he sold 120 firearms in 2020, according to the charges, and he showed them pictures of other guns on his cellphone. After arresting him, the agents saw the sawed-off shotgun in his car next to ammunition.
According to court records, Sauke gained work as an electrician and completed in-patient and successful outpatient phases of a residential dual-diagnosis treatment program while on supervised release under his original sentence. He was living in St. Paul sober housing from October 2023 until his arrest this month.
Most of the violations cited by the government took place while he was unemployed, from late December 2023 to mid-February 2024, prosecutors said.
Star Tribune staff writer Paul Walsh contributed to this report.
Mohamed Omar is the new board chair of Hennepin Healthcare System, the organization that runs HCMC, making him Minnesota’s first Somali American hospital board leader.
The health care system board permanently appointed Omar to the position Wednesday at their regular meeting. He had served as interim chair since Babette Apland stepped down in September.
Omar has been on the volunteer board for three years, working on the finance, investment, audit and compliance committees. He is the chief administrative officer at the Washburn Center for Children and previously was chief financial officer at the Greater Minnesota Housing Fund.
In a statement, Omar said he was excited to lead a hospital board in the state with the largest Somali American population in the U.S. He said he shared the health system’s dedication to providing “equitable, high-quality care.”
“My commitment is to deepen our community engagement, build more authentic connections between patients and team members, and build a confident future together,” Omar’s statement said.
CEO Jennifer DeCubellis and Nneka Sederstrom, chief health equity officer, praised Omar’s selection to lead the board. They said more inclusive leadership with a commitment to ending health disparities are key to HCMC’s success.
Hennepin County Board Chair Irene Fernando, who is also on health system board, said she was excited to work with Omar. She said county leaders are dedicated to good stewardship of the “state’s last public safety-net hospital.”
“As the first Hennepin County Board Chair of color, I know how impactful it is for our communities to see themselves represented in public leadership,” Fernando said.
DULUTH – The Superior National Forest has lifted its forestwide campfire ban, including the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, effective Friday.
Recent rain and humidity have improved conditions across the national forest’s 3 million acres, forest officials said in a news release.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has also lifted fire restrictions in Cook, Koochiching, Lake and northern St. Louis counties.
Fire danger is still a concern this time of year, said Karen Harrison, DNR wildfire prevention specialist.
“As leaves fall and vegetation continues to dry out, it’s important for people to be cautious with anything that can cause a spark,” she said.
The national forest imposed its broad campfire ban nearly two weeks ago, after a third wildfire, named for Bogus Lake, was discovered on forest land. No significant fire activity has been reported in recent days for any of those three fires. A fourth fire inside the forest, the 8.5-acre Pfeiffer Lake Fire, started Oct. 17. It was contained within 24 hours, the Forest Service said.
Much of northeast Minnesota is still classified in the “severe drought” stage by the U.S. Drought Monitor.
WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris was asked this week if she thought Donald Trump was a fascist, and she replied ‘’Yes, I do.’’ She subsequently called him the same thing herself, saying voters don’t want ‘’a president of the United States who admires dictators and is a fascist.’’
But what exactly is a fascist? And does the meaning of the word shift when viewed through a historical or political prism — especially so close to the end of a fraught presidential race?
An authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is often associated with the far right and characterized by a dictatorial leader who uses military forces to help suppress political and civil opposition.
History’s two most famous fascists were Nazi chief Adolf Hitler in Germany and Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. Known as Il Duce, or ”the duke,” Mussolini headed the National Fascist Party, which was symbolized by an eagle clutching a fasces — a bundle of rods with an axe among them.
At Mussolini’s urging, in October 1922, thousands of ”Blackshirts,” or ”squadristi,” made up an armed fascist militia that marched on Rome, vowing to seize power. Hitler’s Nazis similarly relied on a militia, known as the ”Brownshirts.” Both men eventually imposed single-party rule and encouraged violence in the streets. They used soldiers, but also fomented civilian unrest that pit loyalists against political opponents and larger swaths of everyday society.
Hitler and Mussolini censored the press and issued sophisticated propaganda. They played up racist fears and manipulated not just their active supporters but everyday citizens.
