Star Tribune
Guilty of gun, drug counts against Derrick Thompson, still charged with killing 5 in crash
A federal jury Friday returned guilty verdicts on gun and drug charges against Derrick John Thompson in connection with the Minneapolis crash that killed five women in June 2023 after he sped off Interstate 35W in and slammed into the car they were riding in.
The verdicts on the fourth day of the trial in U.S. District Court in St. Paul were guilty for all counts: possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl, being a felon in possession of a firearm and carrying a firearm “during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime.”
While Thompson, 28, of Brooklyn Park and the son of former DFL state Rep. John Thompson, now awaits sentencing in this case, he also has third-degree murder and criminal vehicular homicide charges pending in Hennepin County in connection with the crash. In the meantime, he remains in federal custody in the Sherburne County jail.
The crash victims were Sabiriin Ali, 17, of Bloomington; Sahra Gesaade, 20, of Brooklyn Center; Salma Abdikadir, 20, of St. Louis Park; Sagal Hersi, 19, of Minneapolis, and Siham Adam, 19, of Minneapolis. On the night they were killed, the women were heading home after running errands before a friend’s wedding the next day. Their funeral was attended by thousands, and an online fundraiser to support the victims’ families raised more than $450,000.
A still image from body cam footage shows a bleeding Derrick Thompson near the scene of the crash that killed five women in June 2023 in Minneapolis. (U.S. District Court)
During this week’s federal trial, Thompson’s defense attorneys argued that the drugs and a loaded Glock pistol with an extended magazine discovered in the Escalade actually belong to his brother Damarco John Thompson — whom both the prosecution and defense said was a passenger in the SUV and fled the scene along with Derrick Thompson.
Damarco Thompson has not been arrested or charged with any crimes connected to the crash.
Police found three phones in the car, one for each brother and another they shared. They found video, text and voice messages on Derrick Thompson’s phone documenting narcotics being weighed for sale and negotiations over drug purchases.
A black leather bag carrying the gun and drugs was found beneath a distinctive blue cap Damarco Thompson was captured wearing earlier that night as he dropped Derrick off to rent the Escalade at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. The bag held a loaded Glock handgun with an extended magazine and more than 2,000 blue pills containing fentanyl, 14 grams of powdered fentanyl and 35 grams of cocaine.
The unpleasant odor is caused by fertilizer and manure that is placed on farms surrounding the metro area, and it is a common occurrence in the fall. According to David Brown, an air quality meteorologist for the state, the manure smell has arrived early this year, potentially stretching out the amount of time it will be here to stay.
Typically, the smell becomes noticeable in November when new fertilizer is put down. But Brown said that the historically dry weather in recent weeks could be causing the smell to arrive earlier.
“It does seem a little bit early this fall, and that may be because of the drought conditions, the drier soils, dust and those soils are more easily lifted into the atmosphere by gusty wind,” Brown said.
He noted that the fertilizer smell does not decrease air quality or make it harmful to participate in outdoor activities.
“It’s more of just a nuisance,” Brown said, adding that the smell is likely to linger until below-freezing temperatures set in.
The air quality has been listed as “moderate” in recent days in the southern half of Minnesota, Brown said, slightly worsened by wildfire smoke coming from Wyoming and Idaho.
Mike Griesinger, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Chanhassen, said manure smell in the Twin Cities is “very common” because of how many farms surround the region.
Minnesotans know that portaging a canoe is all part of a journey, and for a Shakopee woman, it proved a trip to both recovery and a world record at the Ely Marathon in September.
A year ago, Victoria Ranua, then 43, had lost her husband, the father of her two sons, to pulmonary fibrosis and complications of COVID. Then a bout of long COVID herself had left her in a fog that wouldn’t lift. She had been living in Tower, on the Iron Range, but returned to her home in Shakopee last year to find the house she had rented out had sustained thousands of dollars in damages. “It was definitely the lowest point of my life,” she recalls.
She found her path back by going back to her roots. In 1997, Ranua was a state champion in the 3,200-meter who went on to run cross-country and the steeplechase for the University of Minnesota for four years. It was during retreats with the university cross country team at Camp Voyageur, outside Ely, that she first experienced the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, where the canoe portage is part of the experience.
“I loved it the moment I stepped out of the vehicle,” she said of her first visit.
But after college, she married, had children and began a career. In 2017, her husband, Todd, received his terminal diagnosis. Wanting to spend his final years in the north country, they bought a house in Soudan.
There, she started running again and completed the Ely Half Marathon in 2022, several months after Todd’s death.
Back in Shakopee, she saw the offer of a $5,000 cash prize for breaking the world record in the canoe portage, part of the Ely Marathon. She decided to not just run it but also to beat the world record and claim the cash.
Only one other woman had ever finished the canoe portage marathon, running the course in 6 hours, 49 minutes. What’s more, at age 44, Ranua would be the oldest person to ever attempt the grueling contest.
Star Tribune
Firefighters gain on Bogus Lake fire near Grand Marais, Minnesota, but Forest Service warns of possibility for more
Crews have contained a 53-acre wildlfire near Grand Marais in the Superior National Forest, the Forest Service reported Friday, while they continue to fight two others.
Forest Service and Department of Natural Resources crews in the air and on the ground have fought the fire in a remote and densely wooded area about 20 miles northeast of Grand Marais. The fire was discovered Tuesday. Its cause is unknown.
The wildfire prompted the agency earlier this week to extend its campfire ban to the entire national forest. A fire ban in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness took effect Oct. 1. The DNR reports the current fire danger is “very high” in northern St. Louis and Lake counties. Burning restrictions have expanded, too, covering Cook, Koochiching, Lake, and the northern half of St. Louis County.
A wildfire was detected Monday on the eastern side of Shell Lake, about 4 miles north of Road 116 within the BWCAW, in St. Louis County. Covering three-quarters of an acre, the fire has some potential to spread to the east near Agawato Lake and a portion of the Sioux-Hustler Hiking Trail, the Forest Service reported. The fire’s cause is unknown.
Elsewhere in the Boundary Waters, crews continue to fight a fire at Wood Lake. The fire, discovered Sept. 10, has grown to 45 acres and is 50% contained. Its cause is under investigation.
Forest Service spokesperson Joy Liptak VanDrie said moisture is needed to lessen the harsh drought conditions and to keep fires from sparking, rekindling or spreading. The National Weather Service forecasts a mixed chance of showers across the Arrowhead region Saturday night and into Sunday.
“If weather doesn’t bring moisture, we will have more fires next week,” she said.
Liptak VanDrie said Forest Service staff have found “too many abandoned campfires with warm coals … these will ignite in current conditions.”
