Star Tribune
Police video shows brief exchange of gunfire before wounded St. Paul officer fatally shoots man
Dashboard and body camera recordings released Tuesday show that an exchange of gunfire at a busy St. Paul intersection lasted mere seconds before a police officer who was wounded in the leg returned fire at the suspect, fatally striking him in the head.
St. Paul police released the video five days after the encounter Thursday at Cretin and Marshall avenues that resulted in the death of 24-year-old Brandon Daleshaun Keys, of Maplewood. Officer Michael Tschida was wounded after Keys fired within moments of Tschida’s arrival at the scene, striking the officer in the leg before Tschida shot Keys.
Keys died the following morning at Regions Hospital. Tschida, a 14-year law enforcement veteran, was treated and released. He was placed on administrative leave — a standard practice for officers involved in use-of-force investigations by the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA).
“In one moment we experienced an officer who was injured by gunfire in our community, and in that same moment we experienced an officer-involved shooting,” Mayor Melvin Carter said. “Trust cannot be built, cannot be established, cannot be done in the dark. Which is why transparency is such a core function.”
According to the BCA, the encounter unfolded just after 2 p.m., when a woman called 911 to report that a man she knows was violating a court order for protection against him. She said the man had a gun and was hitting her vehicle with his as she drove through St. Paul with a male passenger.
Transcript from the woman’s 911 call suggest that Keys rammed the van she was driving with his blue Impala sedan and broke her van’s windows. She told the dispatcher he was armed.
“… Oh, my god, he hit me again. Oh, he’s gonna … kill me,” transcript of the woman’s call read.
The footage showed how the shooting unfolded as soon as Tschida arrived at the scene, exited the squad and ordered Keys to the ground. Keys ducked behind a vehicle and shot at Tschida, who then returned fire. Keys, who was struck, then dropped to the ground behind the vehicle.
“Shots fired,” Tschida repeats over his police radio, taking cover behind his squad. “I’m hit.”
The woman in question then parked her van and exited, screaming and running to Keys, who was on his back on the pavement.
“Tell ’em don’t shoot, don’t shoot, please,” the woman told 911, according to call transcripts. “He’s down. No, he don’t have a gun. No please. Send an ambulance, please.”
Tschida then yelled at the woman to step away from Keys, who cannot be seen from behind the vehicle.
Bystanders also urged the woman to step away from Keys as Tschida limped toward him, picked up the gun where it lay near his feet and moved it away. The footage then ended as multiple squads arrive to the scene.
“The events that transpired on [that day] will have a lasting effect in our community, particularly to our first responders, particularly to our officers, paramedics dispatchers and our professional staff,” Police Chief Axel Henry said. “Healing is a process that takes time, patience and support. But we stand here as one community and we will do everything we can to support one another while the BCA completes this investigation.”
Keys was due in Hennepin County District Court this week for a hearing in connection with a two-year order for protection secured in October by a 38-year-old woman who shares a 5-year-old child with him, according to court records. It’s unclear whether she is the same woman involved in Thursday’s incident.
She also had an order for protection taken out in 2018, when she alleged that Keys gave her a black eye and bruises. “[He] has a history of beating me physically,” she wrote.
Keys has been convicted twice for misdemeanor domestic abuse, both times for violating an order for protection involving the same woman, court records show.
Tschida was one of four St. Paul police officers who fired their weapons in the killing of Jaffort Demont Smith on May 9, 2016.
Smith ignored orders to drop his weapon after he had shot and wounded a 49-year-old woman with him who eventually lost an eye. A grand jury ultimately issued no charges against the officers involved.
Last year, Smith’s family sued the officers and the city of St. Paul in federal court, alleging Smith’s civil rights were violated.
According to a Star Tribune database, at least 230 people have been killed in Minnesota during encounters with law enforcement.
Star Tribune staff writers Louis Krauss, Paul Walsh and Katie Galioto contributed to this report.
Star Tribune
Kristi Noem’s Trump loyalty rewarded with top Homeland Security job
Now, SoDak’s capital, Pierre, is approximately 1,100 miles from the Mexican border and some 589 miles from America’s best border crossing — Minnesota’s Northwest Angle. But what Noem lacks in qualifications, she more than makes up for in unhesitating, unquestioning, uncritical capitulation to Trump’s every whim. And Homeland Security will be the agency tasked with those mass deportations Trump promised on the campaign trail.
The infuriating idea that random rich guys could move American troops around like pawns on a chessboard if they threw enough money at a politician prompted Congress to ban the use of private funds for interstate guard deployments. A law that didn’t need to exist before Noem came along.
Her attempt to cover up the fact that she rented out 48 National Guard troops for a billionaire’s pet project cost South Dakota $42,000 to settle a lawsuit with the watchdog group that blew the whistle. The funds covered the legal costs to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington after the South Dakota National Guard stonewalled their request for public records on the stunt deployment. Those records also showed that even after the billionaire chipped in, South Dakota taxpayers had to pay an additional $500,000 for the deployment.
For five years, Kristi Noem placed Donald Trump’s wishes above the needs of her own state. This is her reward.
Star Tribune
Trump picks South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to serve as homeland security secretary
President-elect Donald Trump has chosen South Dakota Gov. Kristi L. Noem (R) to serve as his homeland security secretary, picking another loyalist for a crucial role after he campaigned heavily on fortifying the border.
The selection was confirmed by people familiar with the choice who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a decision not yet made public. Spokespeople for Trump’s transition team and Noem did not respond to requests for comment.
As homeland security secretary, Noem would lead a sprawling federal bureaucracy with a $60 billion budget and more than 230,000 employees.
The role is key to Trump’s domestic policy agenda, especially given his pledge to deport millions of undocumented immigrants and impose a crackdown at the U.S.-Mexico border. Noem is the latest high-profile choice related to border security that Trump has made since defeating Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential election a week ago.
As well as customs, border and immigration enforcement, the Department of Homeland Security oversees the response to natural and man-made disasters, anti-terrorism work and cybersecurity. It also houses the Secret Service, which has been under scrutiny for months after the attempted assassination of Trump at a campaign rally this summer.
Trump took steps Monday toward his campaign promises to close the border to migrants and deport undocumented immigrants on a massive scale with two senior appointments to the incoming White House.
Trump announced that Tom Homan, former acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement director, would serve as “border czar,” in charge of border security as well as deportations. Former speechwriter and campaign adviser Stephen Miller — who helped develop policies during Trump’s first administration, including the ban on travel from Muslim-majority countries and the separation of families at the border — is expected to become a deputy chief of staff.
Noem, a farmer and rancher, has served as South Dakota governor since 2019. She previously served as the state’s at-large member of Congress and in the state legislature.
Star Tribune
Mankato mosque says it was targeted by arsonist
Members of a Mankato mosque say they’re asking for the public’s help after what they call a “brazen” attempted arson on Sunday.
A man held a lighter to leaves and brush at the Islamic Center of Mankato as children studied inside, said Abdi Sabrie, a cofounder and board member of the mosque.
“It was very intentional. … He wasn’t in a hurry,” Sabrie said in a call on Tuesday.
The arson attempt was unsuccessful, causing no injuries or significant damage. Attendees inside the mosque awaiting a midday prayer chased the man away, Sabrie said.
He said the man left on an expensive-looking fat-tired bicycle. Surveillance video shared by the Islamic Center of Mankato shows a man wearing a red and black jacket.
Members of the Islamic Center, as well as the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), are asking the public to provide the police with information on the suspected arsonist.
“We are deeply troubled by this incident and call for a thorough investigation to bring the perpetrator to justice,” said Jaylani Hussein, CAIR-Minnesota spokesman in a statement Monday.
Hussein said the incident marks the 40th attack on a mosque in Minnesota over the past three years. Among these incidents is a series of attacks on Muslim houses of worship. In 2023, one attack led to a St. Paul mosque being heavily damaged by fire.