Star Tribune
Protesters are inside this year’s DNC, with Minnesotans playing big roles
CHICAGO – Thousands of demonstrators in the streets this week were nearly invisible inside the United Center during the Democratic National Convention because of the blocks-wide security buffer around convention sites.
But unlike other recent conventions, protesters were visible on the convention floor, showing their outrage at President Joe Biden’s policy toward Israel’s war in Gaza, making their voices heard by party elites and thousands of the most committed Democrats.
“Our whole presence is a protest,” said Sam Doten, a Minneapolis activist who is one of the leaders of Minnesota’s uncommitted delegation. He said he felt a heavy responsibility to represent all the voters who voiced opposition to the war through their primary votes, and was disappointed at how the national convention has so far been more ceremonial than substantive, unlike local and state party conventions.
The 11 uncommitted Minnesotan delegates are the largest of any state’s protest delegation, elected to represent the nearly 46,000 voters who cast ballots for “uncommitted” instead of Biden in Minnesota’s presidential primary in March. Their numbers, and prominent place in the middle of the convention floor, have set them up to make silent statements during the convention.
During Biden’s speech late Monday, Minnesota’s uncommitted delegates placed their hands over their mouths. Delegates had written the words “arms embargo now” on the backs of their hands. They remained standing as others sat while Biden’s speech ran late. As other delegates noticed the protest, they stood up and held up signs to block the protest from television cameras’ view.
The uncommitted delegates plan to hold up pieces of paper with the names of Gazans killed during the war during the roll call on Tuesday evening. Most plan to vote “present,” instead of voting for Kamala Harris for president, saying those votes will represent names of people killed in Gaza — either people delegates knew, or children the same age as their own.
In the McCormick Place convention center, where daytime meetings are held, dozens of uncommitted delegates from several states wore keffiyehs, the checked scarves signaling solidarity with the Palestinian cause. Others wore t-shirts printed with red flowers calling for the United States to stop selling weapons to Israel.
A few cease-fire supporters interrupted Gov. Tim Walz as he spoke to a women’s caucus on Tuesday, but were drowned out by others chanting “vote” and “USA.”
Top Democrats called for GOP state Rep. Jeff Dotseth to end his re-election campaign on Tuesday in response to a Star Tribune report that detailed past allegations of domestic abuse.
They also called on House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, to expel Dotseth from the House GOP Caucus.
Dotseth, a first-term lawmaker from Kettle River, was arrested in 2008 after his then-wife called police to report he’d assaulted her, according to court documents first reported by the Star Tribune on Monday. He was initially charged with misdemeanor domestic assault but pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of disorderly conduct several months later. A judge granted a yearlong order for protection barring Dotseth from contacting his then-wife and using or possessing firearms, and he was only allowed to have supervised visits with the 9-year-old daughter they shared.
“What we’ve learned about Rep. Dotseth’s past is beyond concerning,” House Majority Leader Jamie Long, DFL-Minneapolis, said at a news conference at the State Capitol. “Dotseth’s behavior, whether it was yesterday or years ago, is unacceptable and not fitting for an elected representative of our state.”
After Dotseth’s arrest, his then-wife, Penny Dotseth, filed a sworn affidavit along with her petition for divorce alleging Dotseth abused her repeatedly over the course of a decade of living together. Her adult son also filed an affidavit alleging Dotseth abused him when he was a child. They both said Dotseth punched, kicked, slapped and choked them over the years.
Dotseth denied the abuse allegations in his own 2008 divorce affidavit and again in a statement to the Star Tribune last week: “More than 15 years ago I went through an extremely difficult divorce and child custody dispute. There were hurtful allegations made against me that I deny, including a sworn affidavit I filed under oath under penalty of perjury,” he said in the statement.
Dotseth didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
Rep. Jeff Dotseth greets staff as he arrives at the House chambers on the first day of the 2024 Minnesota Legislature session on Feb. 12, 2024. (Renée Jones Schneider/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Demuth, who leads the House GOP Caucus, said in a statement last week that “domestic violence is an absolute red line for me — it’s never acceptable under any circumstances.” But, she said, “this case was resolved through the legal process more than 15 years ago, concluding with no charge or conviction for domestic assault.”
Star Tribune
Minnesota Class 6A high school football state championship favorite still uncertain three weeks into season
The current No. 1-ranked team in Class 5A is Elk River, which is averaging 48 points per game.
Owatonna has been stingy, though, giving up just a touchdown in each of its three victories. In Section 8, high-powered Moorhead, led by stellar sophomore quarterback Jett Feeney, and Alexandria Area, an athletic squad allowing just four points per game, are headed for a showdown on Oct. 11, the next-to-last game of the regular season.
Star Tribune
Man misidentified by police, charges dropped related to attack against Minneapolis homeless shelter
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office has dropped criminal charges against a man who Minneapolis police mistakenly identified as an accomplice in a recent attack on a homeless shelter.
The swift reversal on Tuesday saw the dismissal in Hennepin County District Court of two counts of second-degree assault, illegal weapons possession, threats of violence and second-degree riot in connection the Sept. 5 attack on St. Anne’s Place at 2634 Russell Av. N.
“We have recently learned from our law enforcement partners at (the Minneapolis Police Department) that [man] was misidentified as the suspect in the St. Anne’s Place attack who pistol-whipped two people and fired a gun,” a statement from the County Attorney’s Office read. Police “shared this information with us right away as part of their ongoing investigation, and upon learning this information, we immediately began the process of filing a written dismissal.”
The statement said the man, who was arrested Friday, would be released from jail “as soon as possible.” As of mid-afternoon Tuesday, the man was still in custody, according the jail’s online inmate roster.
The Star Tribune has asked for Minneapolis police for an explanation about how the misidentification occurred.
There is so far one person charged stemming from the attack. Eureka D. Riser, 33, of Minneapolis, was arrested Thursday and is charged with second-degree riot with a dangerous weapon and first-degree damage to property.
Riser, also known as Eureka Willis, is alleged to have been among at least three people who went to St. Anne’s Place and threatened residents, smashing doors with a baseball bat. According to police, an argument between shelter residents and neighbors led to the violence, resulting in at least one assault and gunfire damage to a vehicle.
