Star Tribune
Federal crackdown in Twin Cities wins guilty plea from longtime gang member for having high-powered gun
A federal crackdown on street gangs in the Twin Cities has tallied another guilty plea, this one from a repeat felon who was caught last year in Brooklyn Center with a high-capacity gun, many rounds of ammunition and fentanyl.
James Edward Hollman, Jr., 32, admitted on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis to being a felon in possession of a firearm and possessing a gun related to drug trafficking. A law enforcement search of his Brooklyn Center apartment on N. 47th Avenue and his car on March 15, 2023, turned up the evidence.
The plea agreement recounted that after officers ordered Hollman out of the Dodge Charger he was renting, they seized from the vehicle a loaded pistol with an obliterated serial number, an inserted high-capacity magazine with an attached red laser pointer and a “switch” device that converts the weapon to a fully automatic machine gun.
Also collected from the car was a baggie containing 252 fentanyl pills and a loaded 50-round drum magazine. A search of the apartment turned up roughly $900.
Hollman, a member of the Highs gang in Minneapolis, remains jailed without bail ahead of sentencing, which has yet to be scheduled.
The plea deal notes that federal guidelines call for Hollman to receive a prison term ranging from 9¾ to nearly 11 years. However, federal judges have full discretion when sentencing defendants and are not bound by the guidelines calculation.
Back in May 2022, U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger pledged to devote the “entire weight” of his office to punishing violent criminals, part of an aggressive strategy he said was necessary to curb a surge in carjackings, shootings and gang activity in the Twin Cities.
The charges against Hollman spelled out many years of gang activity and his connections to various shootings in Minneapolis including when he was present at a drive-by shooting at West Broadway and N. Lyndale Avenue in September 2022, when nearly 100 rounds were fired.
On Jan. 1, 2023, he was at the scene of the fatal shooting of Deleon Davis, 28, of St. Paul, in the 4400 block of N. Lyndale Avenue, the charges said. Casings recovered in that incident matched the pistol seized from his vehicle in March 2023. A man was charged in that killing and was acquitted in a jury trial.
That same pistol was also tied to a shooting on Jan. 27, 2023, near N. 2nd and Washington avenues, the charges noted.
Court records in Minnesota show that Hollman at age 15 was convicted of first-degree assault in 2007 and illegal firearm possession 2019.
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.
