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Ellison asks Glock to preserve all ‘switch’-related evidence
Attorney General Keith Ellison is joining 13 other states in sending a letter to the weapons manufacturer just one week after the city of Chicago sued Glock.
ST PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota’s attorney general has joined 13 other states in sending a letter to Glock, asking the high-profile weapons manufacturer to preserve “all evidence” relating to the conversion of its pistols into automatic weapons.
KARE 11’s Chris Hrapsky documented in a recent report how a small metal insert —now known as a switch — can turn a semi-automatic Glock pistol into a machine gun capable of firing a reported 20 rounds per second. Law enforcement at the federal, state and local levels say the Glock is a major tool used by local gangs involved in crime and the illegal drug trade.
Ellison sent the letter just one week after the city of Chicago filed a lawsuit against Glock, alleging that the manufacturer knows the design of its handgun makes it easy to convert and yet has refused to make meaningful design changes to fix this problem. The city of Chicago is seeking a court order requiring Glock to end sales of these easily converted pistols to Chicago civilians and “to put in place reasonable controls, safeguards and procedures to prevent their unlawful possession, use and sale.”
The letter sent to Glock by Ellison and other Attorneys General says if true, Chicago’s allegations “may also involve violations of our States’ laws. We will not hesitate to enforce our laws when they are violated.” In what could be a precursor to legal action, the letter asks Glock to preserve all documents related to:
- the modification of Glock handguns through the use of switches to fire automatically, including but not limited to those converted handguns’ use in crime or violence, impact on public safety or prevalence
- how Glock pistols are designed and developed to function as a semiautomatic weapon, any efforts Glock may have taken or considered to reduce the capability to be converted easily, and the possibility of any design changes
- Glock’s knowledge about all state and federal laws relating to Glock switches and converted Glock machine guns, their legal responsibility as a manufacturer of these guns, and whether they followed these laws and met their responsibility
- financial details about Glock pistols, including profits, manufacturing and distribution costs, as well as expenses relating to alternative designs that were available or considered
- any public marketing or advertising related to Glock pistols, including any claims about their safety, lethality, modularity, semiautomatic function or the speed at which they fire
“Everyone has a role to play in stopping the epidemic of gun violence. Individual offenders must be held accountable — and companies that turn a blind eye to their role in perpetuating the epidemic must be, too,” Attorney General Ellison said in a released statement. “Attorneys general across the country have broad civil-law authority to protect the people of our states and we will not hesitate to use it if our states’ laws have been broken.”
Joining Minnesota in the letter are the states of New Jersey (Whose AG is leading the coalition), Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Michigan, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.
In his story on the Glock Switch, KARE 11’s Chris Hrapsky spoke with the man who first invented the metal insert at the center of controversy. Native Venezuelan Jorge Leon called the invention “his greatest mistake.”
“By just seeing the drawings, they can reverse the technology and make it,” Leon said, reflecting on Glock’s ability to fix the situation. “It’s part of the problem right now. I would rather to invent any other thing — something less complicated for the future.”
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The newly elected board unanimously accepted it during a special board meeting Thursday night.
BURNSVILLE, Minn — STEP Academy officials said the school is taking steps to pay off its debt after letting go teachers, administrators, and people who worked in operations to balance their budget.
“We’re very sad we had to reduce our budget based on our enrollment but that was a necessary step so that we could stay financially secure,” said Paul Scanlon, STEP Academy’s chief operations officer.
Scanlon corrected a statement made by the St. Paul charter school’s finance director on Monday who said the school has an operating budget deficit of $2.1 million.
“It’s projected by the end of the year that it will roughly – 2.1% of our overall budget. It’s not 2.1 thousand or 2.1 million,” Scanlon said.
He said that’s roughly $275,000, which is how much debt the charter school will have by the end of the academic year.
“Through careful financing, we’ve been able to pay off some of our debt and get that number lower and lower,” he said.
Scanlon said under the Minnesota Department of Education, a school must be at least -2.5% to be considered in statutory operational debt.
The newly elected board started on Monday. Scanlon said there was some confusion about their appointment, but he said the plan was to seat them at their annual meeting on Oct. 21. He said all of the new board members were elected to their positions.
“Candidates nominated or being nominated for the positions to expand the expertise and size our of board took several weeks of getting the nominations and having ballots prepared,” he said.
The board unanimously voted to accept Superintendent Mustafa Ibrahim’s resignation. He said his last day will be Nov. 4. In his letter, he said “my time leading STEP Academy has been the most rewarding period of my career.”
Scanlon said they will not be looking for an immediate replacement.
“At this time based on our finances, based on the strength that we’re seeing from our two principals on both sites, we feel like we can cover many of those components and then we would look to post for the 25-26 school year,” he said.
The board also approved an Ad Hoc committee’s report on the job description of the superintendent of educational services for when they do hire someone for that role.
The board unanimously voted to postpone filling two school board vacancies until they have appointed a chair, vice chair, secretary, and treasurer. They’ll discuss it again at their next meeting, and possibly decide how they want to fill those seats.
“We’re 50 ahead of where we were, 50 deaths,” Mike Hanson said. “50 families who have lost a loved one more than we were at this time last year.”
MINNEAPOLIS — It’s a frustrating trend for Mike Hanson, director of the Office of Traffic Safety within the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.
“Anytime I see an incident like the one that took place last night, I’m angry,” Hanson said. “It’s really hard to put into words, because this is exactly the type of thing that we work to prevent.”
Wednesday night, a 29-year-old man from St. Paul exited eastbound I-94 onto Lyndale Avenue in Minneapolis. The crash report says that man was traveling at a “high rate of speed.” That man hit several cars, killing a 26-year-old Minneapolis woman and injuring several others.
“That is the one thing that makes every bad decision worse, because speed brings energy, and energy is what results in injury and death,” Hanson said.
Data provided by DPS shows that there have been nearly 150 accidents in and near the area where this happened since January 2021. Some don’t involve alcohol, some do. Hanson said it’s their goal to make sure alcohol is never a factor.
“There is literally no excuse today for somebody to wind up in the back seat of a squad car, an ambulance or heaven forbid a hearse, because of an impaired driving decision,” he said.
Unfortunately, data shows that fatal accidents are up in Minnesota so far this year.
“We’re 50 ahead of where we were, 50 deaths,” Hanson said. “50 families who have lost a loved one more than we were at this time last year.”
Hanson said they work with different agencies across the state to help assist with education and prevention before anyone gets behind the wheel impaired.
“Our basic message is impaired is impaired. It doesn’t matter what it is that you’re impaired by, if you feel different, you will drive different,” he said. “And if you’re sitting behind the wheel and you have to ask yourself should I drive? It’s already too late.”
Police said the suspect in an alleged armed burglary is described similarly to someone who was reportedly looking into windows in the city earlier the same day.
BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. — Police in Brooklyn Park are urging residents to make sure their windows and doors are locked after an alleged armed burglary in the city on Thursday.
According to police, residents on the 1700 block of 73rd Ave N. were coming home around 7:30 p.m. when they discovered a man in their home. The man pointed a gun at them and then fled, officials said.
The suspect is described by law enforcement as Black, 5’9 or 5’10, a skinny build, with a beard. He was reportedly wearing a black hoodie and pants.
Police said a man with a similar description was reportedly looking into windows and trying door handles around the 7500 block of Newton Ave N and Meadowwood Drive earlier on Thursday. In that case, the suspect was wearing a black hoodie with white lettering, a black coat with red sleeves, and light-colored pants, officials said.
“In light of these incidents, Brooklyn Park Police are urging residents in the area to ensure that all windows and doors are securely locked,” an alert from police said, adding if anyone notices “suspicious activity” they should call 911.
Brooklyn Center Police had similar sightings as well, according to law enforcement.
