Star Tribune
Special counsel moves to dismiss election interference case against President-elect Donald Trump
WASHINGTON — Special counsel Jack Smith asked a federal judge on Monday to dismiss the case accusing President-elect Donald Trump of plotting to overturn the 2020 election, citing longstanding Justice Department policy shielding presidents from prosecution while in office.
The move announced in court papers marks the end of the Justice Department’s landmark effort to hold Trump accountable for what prosecutors called a criminal conspiracy to cling to power in the run-up to his supporters’ attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
In court papers. prosecutors said the Justice Department’s position “is that the Constitution requires that this case be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated.”
The decision was expected after Smith’s team began assessing how to wind down both the 2020 election interference case and the separate classified documents case in the wake of Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris. The Justice Department believes Trump can no longer be tried in accordance with longstanding policy that says sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted.
Star Tribune
Send us photos and videos of Camp Snoopy at the Mall of America
Not much remains today of Camp Snoopy, the woodsy indoor theme park where Charlie Brown and the gang once came to life inside the Mall of America.
Curious Minnesota recently did a dive into what happened to the beloved theme park and how Nickelodeon Universe came to be.
The giant red dog bowl where groups met up, the Snoopy bounce house, the whimsical fountain — all were replaced years ago by the characters and branding of Nickelodeon Universe.
But Camp Snoopy still conjures nostalgic memories for the people who grew up visiting this unique attraction. People at the mall can still experience pieces of the original park, like the Log Chute.
Submit your photos and/or videos below for a chance to be featured in an upcoming video.
Star Tribune
Mankato police and city officials meet with Muslim community at Islamic Center of Mankato
MANKATO – City and police officials attempted to reassure members of the Muslim community of Mankato recently after concerns about a suspected arson at a mosque.
“Every single Mankatoan has value and should feel safe,” said Jeremy Clifton, Mankato’s recently appointed director of public safety, before a gathering of about 40 attendees at the Islamic Center of Mankato on Friday.
Last week, members at the mosque said a man attempted to set part of their mosque on fire as part of a “brazen” act on Sunday afternoon. The Mankato police, however, said the Islamic Center of Mankato had not faced any threat, and a man was simply lighting firecrackers.
Clifton on Friday said the man who lit firecrackers near the mosque apologized.
The public safety director added that he will have better communication with leaders in the Muslim community in the future.
The man, who was not identified, has been cited for sale, possession and use of prohibited fireworks, a misdemeanor, the Mankato Department of Public Safety said in a statement last week.
People gathered at the mosque for Friday prayers said they felt Mankato police had downplayed their concerns. Abdi Sabrie, a co-founder and board member of the mosque, said many in the Muslim community in Mankato worry about their safety after the reelection of Donald Trump. He said the president-elect’s first term led to an increase in anti-Muslim vandalism attempts in Minnesota.
In 2016, a shirtless man attempted to tear down the Islamic Center’s sign, and in 2021, two vandals spray-painted slurs on a car owned by a member of the mosque.
Star Tribune
‘No known connection’ between Fleet Farm employee and her attacker
There is “no known connection” between an employee who was stabbed in the neck at a Fleet Farm store in Carver over the weekend and the man who attacked her, officials said Monday.
The stabbing occurred about 2 p.m. Sunday at the Fleet Farm just off Hwy. 212 near the Jonathan Parkway exit, the Carver County Sheriff’s Office said.
The employee, a 17-year-old girl from nearby Jordan, was taken by ambulance to HCMC, where she was last reported to be in stable condition, the sheriff’s office said. Her identity has yet to be released.
The suspect, a 31-year-old man from Kansas City, Kan., was arrested about an hour later during “a high-risk traffic stop” in Chanhassen, according to the jail log and the sheriff’s office.
Charges have yet to be filed. The Minnesota Star Tribune generally does not identify suspects before they are charged.
“There is no known connection between the suspect and the victim,” read a statement from the sheriff’s office, which did not offer a motive for the attack.