Star Tribune
Third man sentenced in August 2020 arson at Target Headquarters
A man convicted of arson for participating in the August 2020 rioting that damaged Target’s downtown Minneapolis headquarters was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in federal prison in a hearing cut short by an outburst at the judge.
Leroy Lemonte Perry Williams, 37, interrupted closing remarks from Senior U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson in St. Paul, shouting that the judge’s decision was “unconstitutional.” Moments earlier, Magnuson sided with federal prosecutors who called for a “significant sentence” to serve as a deterrent in the event further unrest visits the state.
“While no one hopes for widespread riots in the future, the likelihood of such events remains a distinct possibility as this nation grapples with a period of civil unrest,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Chelsea Walcker argued in a previous filing with the court.
Williams, of Minneapolis. was first charged in November 2020 with arson for his participation in downtown Minneapolis rioting that started with the false rumor that a man had been killed that day by Minneapolis police. Instead, the man, Eddie Sole Jr., 38, shot himself when confronted by police investigating reports that he had earlier killed Eddie George Gordon, 61, in a nearby parking ramp. Williams has described Gordon as a “mentor and stepfather figure.”
While on pretrial release and staying in a halfway house, Williams went to the Target store in downtown Minneapolis to try to intimidate and threaten a Target employee involved in the case. He was ordered detained after multiple rule violations at the halfway house.
In January 2021, Williams pled guilty to conspiracy to commit arson and was granted a furlough motion to participate in the Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge’s mental health and substance disorder treatment program.
But he left the program – and the state – in September 2021. He has since said he fled to visit a dying relative in Indiana, but was arrested and returned to Minnesota in July 2022. Back in the state, Williams asked to vacate his guilty plea, was then charged in a superseding indictment with arson and convicted after a three-day trial in October 2023.
Earlier Wednesday, Magnuson refused Williams’ arguments to adjust a pre-sentence investigation report that would’ve lowered his sentencing guidelines in the case. Chiefly, Williams asked that the Target headquarters not be considered a public space.
“To say this isn’t a public place is an absolute misnomer: 4,000 people work in that place and if you had been successful in your arson … 4,000 people would’ve been out of work,” Magnuson said. “And if Target Corp. did need to rebuild that building, it probably wouldn’t have been done yet. This is a very, very serious crime and I will not make light of it.”
Glenn Bruder, Williams’ attorney, had requested a 5-year sentence. Two other men, Shador Tommie Cortez Jackson and Victor Devon Edwards, pleaded guilty in 2021 to charges related to starting a fire in the Target headquarters mail room, causing at least $1 million in damages. Edwards was sentenced to more than 8 years in federal prison and Jackson received nearly 3 years.
Williams was captured on surveillance video lighting a cardboard box on fire and placing it inside the Target Headquarters building through a shattered glass door. He made several attempts to reignite the box as the flames petered out and also tried to start a fire inside the building’s vestibule.
Bruder urged Magnuson to give his client “his first opportunity to turn his life around,” pointing to a harrowing upbringing in which Williams first witnessed his own mother’s substance disorder and physical abuse by a partner before eventually turning to drugs and alcohol himself.
Williams choked up as he addressed Magnuson midway through the hearing, noting his two children in attendance.
“What makes me cry is they shouldn’t be seeing this,” he said. “I should not be standing in front of you right now, but because of my bad decision making here I am fighting for my life and my freedom.”
Williams apologized for his role in “adding to the problem instead of helping find a solution” at a time in which the Twin Cities were vulnerable to unrest just months after George Floyd’s killing.
But as Magnuson explained his rationale for granting the government’s request for a 10-year sentence, Williams shook his head and grew agitated. The judge recognized Williams’ intellect, while saying that he could tell that he needed serious chemical dependency and mental health treatment.
“How do I get 10 years for attempted arson?” Williams interrupted. “It makes no sense, sir! It’s unconstitutional.”
“You are demonstrating right now why I am saying what I am about mental health,” Magnuson said, before abruptly ending the hearing.
Star Tribune
Long Prairie, MN school board dismisses its superintendent, the latest controversy in this small town
LONG PRAIRIE, MINN. — The school district superintendent dressed up as the school mascot, Thor, on football nights. He read the graduation address in both English and Spanish. He even set up office hours in the cafeteria, granting easier approachability to students.
But now, two months into the school year, Daniel Ludvigson is gone. Or, rather, “on special assignment,” according to the terminology of the Long Prairie-Grey Eagle School Board, which voted 4-3 earlier this month to remove him as superintendent. The move came weeks after voting to not renew his contract, which expires at the end of the school year in June.
Four board members — two of whom voted to oust Ludvigson, including Board Chair Kelly Lemke — are up for re-election next week.
The dismissal is the latest blow in this central Minnesota community on the edge of the prairie. Over the last nine months, the town of 3,400 residents and seat of Todd County has lost its mayor, a city manager, two school board members, and now its superintendent.
Students walked out earlier this month in support of Ludvigson. Signs in support of Ludvigson can be seen across town on the lawns of apparent Democrats and Republicans alike. And last week, hundreds packed the American Legion off Hwy. 71 to eat beef sandwiches and sign support letters for Ludvigson, who only swung by to pick up his child for hockey practice.
In a time of great divide in America, this fight has nothing to do with politics.
“You’ve got Harris buttons and Trump hats side-by-side, arm-in-arm,” said Amanda Hinson, a former local newspaper reporter who is concerned the board is not being upfront about why they placed Ludvigson on special assignment. “We want transparency in our government.”
Lawn signs around Long Prairie, Minn., now include people weighing in on the dismissal of Superintendent Daniel Ludvigson by the school board. (Christopher Vondracek)
School board members say Ludvigson has repeatedly shown he is not ready for the prime time of a school district bigger than the one in central North Dakota he arrived from two years ago. They have twice disciplined Ludvigson, but did not state the reason for placing him on “special assignment,” beyond insinuating that staff are fearful to raise official complaints.
Rain and potentially heavy snow are on tap Thursday around the Twin Cities, just before families set out for Halloween trick-or-treating.
Temperatures were expected to drop throughout the day, creating conditions for flurries. A winter weather advisory is in effect from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. covering the Twin Cities metro area and parts of south-central Minnesota. Steady rain drenched the Twin Cities on Thursday, making for a soggy morning commute.
“As colder air begins to move in this morning, the rain will transition to heavy snow from west to east with snowfall rates of an inch per hour at times into early afternoon,” the National Weather Service in Chanhassen said in a weather advisory.
The Twin Cities and surrounding areas could get between 2 and 4 inches of snow, according to the weather service. The winter weather advisory is expected to affect Anoka, Chisago, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, Washington and Le Sueur counties.
It’s unclear how much of the snow will actually stick, with warm surface temperatures likely leading to melting on contact in many areas.
“Exact totals will depend on snowfall rate, surface temperatures, and melting — which increases uncertainty with the snow forecast,” the weather service said in an early Thursday briefing.
“Thundersnow possible!” the weather service emphasized.
The good news for Halloween revelers is that the snow and rain are expected to wrap up in time for trick-or-treating, though temperatures will remain in the 30s with a sharp windchill.
An off-duty Washington County sheriff’s deputy caused a head-on crash while under the influence of alcohol and injured a couple in the other vehicle, officials said.
The crash occurred about 10:40 a.m. Sunday in Afton on Hwy. 95 at Scenic Lane, the Minnesota State Patrol said.
Campbell Johnston Blair, 58, of Hastings, was heading north in his Subaru Crosstrek, crossed into the opposite lane and collided with a southbound Ford Expedition, the patrol said.
Blair and the other vehicle’s occupants, 38-year-old Erik Robert Sward and 36-year-old Heather Lynn Sward, both of Lake Elmo, were taken to Regions Hospital with non-critical injuries, according to the patrol.
The patrol noted the alcohol use by Blair was involved in the crash.
Blair, who was driving a private vehicle at the time of the crash while off-duty, has been a deputy with the Sheriff’s Office since 2020 and is currently assigned to our Court Security Unit.
The Sheriff’s Office has been asked for reaction to the crash involving one of its deputies.
