Kare11
MN Supreme Court to hear Trump ballot case Nov. 2
The High Court will hear arguments Nov. 2 in a legal action designed to keep the former president off the state’s 2024 ballots.
ST PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Supreme Court has scheduled oral arguments for Nov. 2 in a case brought by voters attempting to keep former President Donald Trump off the 2024 primary and general ballots in this state.
Former Secretary of State Joan Growe, former Supreme Court Justice Paul Anderson, and others have filed a petition with the High Court, asking that Trump be disqualified from running for office because of his actions leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol.
It’s part of a larger ongoing effort nationwide by organizations asking election officials to disqualify Trump based on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution. But Minnesota is the first state where court action has been initiated because of a state law that allows voters to directly petition the Minnesota Supreme Court to disqualify a candidate.
The case has some urgency because early voting begins in mid-January for the state’s March 5 presidential preference primary. Trump remains the frontrunner in the GOP primary race while facing a growing number of indictments for actions, including charges that he conspired with others to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Typically, the political parties decide which presidential candidates’ names will appear on the presidential primary and general election ballots. This petition, if successful, would deprive Minnesota Republicans of nominating the former president.
“The rule is that the political parties submit a person, and in the case of the primaries, a list of folks they want to appear on their ballot,” Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon told KARE.
“And in the case of the General Election they submit an individual for president, and an individual for vice president who they certify as their nominee.”
The national election reform group known as Free Speech for the People is leading the campaign to keep Trump off the ballot and is working with the plaintiffs in the Minnesota case.
“It’s very clear that Section 3 says anyone who swore an oath to support the constitution but then engaged in an insurrection or rebellion against the United States is disqualified from public office unless and until two-thirds of both houses of Congress brings that person amnesty,” Ron Fein, legal director for Free Speech for the People, told reporters in a press conference last week.
He said the Constitution doesn’t require the person be charged or convicted with any specific crimes in order to be disqualified from holding office. Congress passed the 14th Amendment following the Civil War to guard against Confederate leaders from returning to power in the reunited nation.
“The vast majority of ex-Confederates who were covered by Section 3 were never charged with any crimes, let alone convicted of them,” Fein added.
The court has already granted the Minnesota Republican Party to intervene in the case, and other groups are expected to jump into the fray. Party chair David Hann blasted the petition in a statement to the media.
“The Republican Party of Minnesota believes that voters in Minnesota should ultimately decide through voting which candidates are qualified to represent them in public office. The Minnesota Supreme Court should reject this fringe legal theory which is purposefully designed to prevent voters from having a voice in our elections.”
Secretary Simon is listed as the defendant in the case because the law is designed to prevent the secretary of state from placing a disqualified person on a ballot. But Simon says he expects to remain on the sidelines of this battle.
“We don’t take any position on the merits. I want to be very clear. This is up to court to decide,” Simon said.
“We will be in most respects a bystander in this litigation, as presumably the plaintiffs who brought this lawsuit and President Trump and his lawyers spar over what the facts are and what the law is. We take no position on the facts. We take no position on the ultimate legal conclusion over whether former president Trump is or isn’t entitled to be on the ballot.”
The Minnesota – MSA 204B.44 – has been used in the past mainly for voters to mount residency challenges. That’s what happened to Representative Bob Barrett in 2016. In response to a voter petition, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled he was disqualified to run for re-election because he was no longer a resident of his district.
What the Constitution’s 14th Amendment, Section 3 says:
“No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.”
WATCH MORE ON KARE 11+
Download the free KARE 11+ app for Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV and other smart TV platforms to watch more from KARE 11 anytime! The KARE 11+ app includes live streams of all of KARE 11’s newscasts. You’ll also find on-demand replays of newscasts; the latest from KARE 11 Investigates, Breaking the News and the Land of 10,000 Stories; exclusive programs like Verify and HeartThreads; and Minnesota sports talk from our partners at Locked On Minnesota.
Watch the latest local news from the Twin Cities and across Minnesota in our YouTube playlist:
A criminal complaint alleges the suspect was driving nearly 100 mph at the time of the crash.
MINNEAPOLIS — Criminal charges have been filed against a St. Paul man in connection with a multi-vehicle crash Wednesday night in Minneapolis that left one person dead and several others injured.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said Talon Covie-Carderell Walker, 29, is now charged with one count of criminal vehicular homicide.
According to a criminal complaint filed in the case, prosecutors believe Walker was driving a Chevy Avalanche pickup truck at high speeds when he started a chain-reaction crash on the I-94 exit to Dunwoody Boulevard on Wednesday evening. A total of seven vehicles were involved.
The State Patrol said Natalie Gubbay, 26, who was driving one of the other vehicles, died at the scene. Several others were hospitalized following the crash, including Walker. Two children were also among those injured.
The complaint alleges Walker was driving nearly 100 mph at the time of the crash. Investigators also said an open bottle of liquor was found in Walker’s vehicle. Results of a blood alcohol test are pending, according to the complaint, but investigators said Walker has previous driving convictions and lost his license in 2021.
Industry experts say several airlines were already waiting for deliveries of Boeing airplanes before the strike started.
MINNEAPOLIS — This week union workers who build planes for Boeing rejected a new contract deal.
64% of the 32,000 machinists voted against the deal in another major setback for the company. The strike that has halted most of Boeing’s aircraft production for over a month will continue.
The strike is further delaying deliveries for many Boeing customers who are already dealing with production delays.
It could soon have a big impact across the country, from concerns over plane safety to the cost of flying.
Hassan Shahidi with the Flight Safety Foundation says many airlines were already waiting for Boeing airplanes before the strike started.
“Prior to the strike there were already challenges,” Shahidi says. “This strike is exacerbating the situation even further.”
Shahidi says some of the airlines may have aging airplanes that will have to stay in use longer than the companies had planned for, but he argues that is a minor issue and he is not worried about passenger safety.
“All aircraft that are flying are certified by the FAA, are airworthy and safe,” Shahidi says.
He argues a much larger issue is how the strike will impact the airline industry’s plans to grow in the coming years.
He says most of the orders for new Boeing airplanes are from airlines that are expanding to meet passenger demand.
“To have other companies trying to come in and meet that gap is going to be challenging in terms of both supplies, labor and processes that are going to be needed to produce the highest quality of airplanes,” Shahidi says.
According to Delta’s website, the airline recently ordered 100 Boeing 737’s with an option to buy 30 more.
Those planes are scheduled to be delivered sometime next year and the company says some of those airplanes will be deployed to MSP.
KARE 11 reached out to Delta to see if the Boeing strike could affect the delivery of those planes, and whether the strike could impact Delta’s ability to add new flights in the coming years, but we haven’t heard back from the company at this time.
Sun Country says their entire fleet is made up of 43 Boeing airplanes.
A company spokesperson says all of Sun Country’s airplanes are “mid-life aircraft” meaning they are purchased used from other companies.
This spokesperson says this unique business model will insulate Sun Country from the impacts of the Boeing strike, and the company won’t see a shortage of airplanes anytime soon.
KARE 11 also reached out to the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport to see if the airport and local travelers will see any impacts of the Boeing strike.
An MSP spokesperson sent KARE-11 the following statement:
“We do not anticipate any immediate impacts at MSP from the Boeing strike. While a strike could push back delivery of aircraft to airlines and lead to future schedule adjustments by those airlines, any impacts would not be expected to affect MSP any more than other airports across the country.”
The victim’s wife identified their neighbor as the likely suspect following ongoing disputes.
MINNEAPOLIS — A shooting that followed months of alleged harassment from one neighbor to another has escalated to a public sparring session between the Minneapolis Police Department and City Council.
According to court documents, MPD was called to a hospital in the city for reports of a gunshot victim on Oct. 23. Upon arrival, the officers learned a man, identified as Davis Maturi, had been shot and was transported to the hospital from his home on Grand Avenue in Minneapolis.
The criminal complaint in the case said Maturi’s wife told officers that their neighbor, identified as 54-year-old John Sawchak, “almost certainly” was the person who shot her husband, alleging that Sawchak had harassed and threatened the couple for months.
Mrs. Maturi allegedly told officers that her husband was pruning a tree near their property line on that day.
“Touch my tree again and I’ll kill you,” the suspect allegedly told the victim, according to the complaint.
The charging documents lists seven prior police records of incidents between the neighbors before the October shooting, including several allegations of threats and racism by Sawchak against Maturi.
Maturi remains hospitalized with a fractured spine. Sawchak is not currently in police custody.
A letter from ranking members of the Minneapolis City Council to Mayor Jacob Frey shows anger and blame being directed at the MPD for allegedly failing to act on Maturi’s numerous complaints against Sawchak before the shooting, and failing to arrest him immediately after the shooting.
“MPD still has not arrested the suspect despite charges from the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office for Attempted Murder, 1st Degree Assault, Stalking, and Harassment and a request from the HCAO for a warrant with $1 million bail. MPD told the HCAO they do not intend to execute the warrant ‘for reasons of officer safety,’” said the letter from the Minneapolis City Council.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara scheduled a news conference on Friday afternoon to respond to the council’s accusations.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office confirmed Friday that it filed charges against Sawchak.
“After Mr. Sawchak shot Mr. Moturi on Oct. 23, the case was submitted to our office on Oct. 24. We immediately charged Mr. Sawchak with attempted murder, first-degree assault, and felony harassment and stalking, enhanced for racial bias,” said a statement from the office.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
Climate groups working to mobilize early voters and track new climate voters in battlefield states
AI helps organization send poorest households impacted by Helene and Milton $1,000
Driver charged in deadly high-speed chain-reaction crash on I-94
Climate groups working to mobilize early voters and track new climate voters in battlefield states
AI helps organization send poorest households impacted by Helene and Milton $1,000
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings