Star Tribune
Feds investigate University of Minnesota after antisemitism complaint
The U.S. Department of Education is investigating whether discrimination occurred at the University of Minnesota, one month after it received a complaint raising concerns about antisemitism at the Twin Cities campus.
The U is one of 99 schools “that are currently under investigation for discrimination involving shared ancestry,” a term the department uses to describe incidents that occur based on someone’s ancestry or nationality.
“An institution named on this list means that [the department’s Office for Civil Rights] has initiated an investigation of a case concerning that institution,” according to the U.S. Department of Education website. “Inclusion on the list does not mean that OCR has made a decision about the case.”
The Department of Education announced this fall that it would “take aggressive action” to combat what it described as an “alarming nationwide rise” in reports of antisemitism and Islamophobia since the war between Israel and Hamas began in October.
In December, law Professor Richard Painter and former U Regent Michael Hsu asked the U.S. Department of Education to investigate concerns about antisemitism at the University of Minnesota. The pair raised concerns about the university’s decision to allow some faculty members to post pro-Palestinian statements on an official university website and listed five incidents for potential investigation, some of which predate the latest conflict between Israel and Hamas.
University leaders said in a statement that they “will be fully responsive to the Office for Civil Rights throughout its inquiry.”
“The University stands firmly in support of speech and actions that provide an atmosphere of mutual respect, free from any form of prejudice and intolerance, as our Board of Regents policies state,” the statement said. “We will continue to work every day to uphold these values while balancing our legal responsibilities to honor free speech.”
The federal investigation could take months and typically involves conducting interviews and requesting records from the schools under investigation. In past cases where the Department of Education found violations at other universities, it required schools to boost trainings for harassment or tighten their policies prohibiting discrimination.
This story is developing and may be updated.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation closed part of a state highway Wednesday evening near Austin because of a “major hazardous materials release” in the area.
Hwy. 56 from Hayfield to Waltham, a stretch covering about five miles, was closed in both directions and drivers were directed to follow a detour to Blooming Prairie on U.S. Hwy. 218.
No information on the hazardous materials released was immediately available.
A federal judge dismissed a civil lawsuit against Minnesota state trooper Ryan Londregan in the shooting death of Ricky Cobb II during a 2023 traffic stop.
The decision is the latest development in a case that has drawn heated debate over excessive use of force by law enforcement. Criminal charges against Londregan were dismissed by Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty in June, saying the prosecution didn’t have the evidence to proceed with a case.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Nancy E. Brasel granted Londregan’s motion to dismiss the civil suit, arguing he acted reasonably when he opened fire as Cobb’s vehicle lurched forward with another state trooper partly inside.
Londregan’s attorney Chris Madelsaid Wednesday that it’s been a “long, grueling journey to justice. Ryan Londregan has finally arrived.”
On July 31, 2023, the two troopers pulled over Cobb, 33, on Interstate 94 in north Minneapolis for driving without taillights and later learned he was wanted for violating a felony domestic no-contact order. Cobb refused commands to exit the car.
With Seide partly inside the car while trying to unbuckle Cobb’s seatbelt, the car moved forward. Londregan then opened fire, hitting Cobb twice.
In her decision, Brasel said the troopers were mandated by state law to make an arrest given Cobb’s domestic no-contact order violation. She said it was objectively reasonable for Londregan to believe Seide was in immediate danger as the car moved forward on a busy highway, which would make his use of force reasonable.
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Donald Trump walked down the steps of the Boeing 757 that bears his name, walked across a rain-soaked tarmac and, after twice missing the handle, climbed into the passenger seat of a white garbage truck that also carried his name.
The former president, once a reality TV star known for his showmanship, wanted to draw attention to a remark made a day earlier by his successor, Democratic President Joe Biden, that suggested Trump’s supporters were garbage. Trump has used the remark as a cudgel against his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris.
”How do you like my garbage truck?” Trump said, wearing an orange and yellow safety vest over his white dress shirt and red tie. ”This is in honor of Kamala and Joe Biden.”
Trump and other Republicans were facing pushback of their own for comments by a comedian at a weekend Trump rally who disparaged Puerto Rico as a ”floating island of garbage.” Trump then seized on a comment Biden made on a late Wednesday call that “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters.”
The president tried to clarify the comment afterward, saying he had intended to say Trump’s demonization of Latinos was unconscionable. But it was too late.
On Thursday, after arriving in Green Bay, Wisconsin, for an evening rally, Trump climbed into the garbage truck, carrying on a brief discussion with reporters while looking out the window — similar to what he did earlier this month during a photo opportunity he staged at a Pennsylvania McDonalds.
He again tried to distance himself from comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, whose joke had set off the firestorm, but Trump did not denounce it. He also said he did not need to apologize to Puerto Ricans.
”I don’t know anything about the comedian,” Trump said. ”I don’t know who he is. I’ve never seen him. I heard he made a statement, but it was a statement that he made. He’s a comedian, what can I tell you. I know nothing about him.”
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