Star Tribune
Minneapolis’ Third Precinct police station barriers are finally coming down
On Monday morning, contract workers began snipping razor wire and removing it from fencing that was propped atop concrete barriers along the perimeter of the former Third Precinct police station, which was set ablaze during the uprising over George Floyd’s police killing.
Finally, the concrete barricades will come down, after 4.5 years. As private security guards looked on, contractors began removing the security measures put in place to secure the building at 3000 Minnehaha Av. after it became a focal point of protests.
For the past three years, Third Precinct police officers have been based out of a city building in downtown Minneapolis, with plans to eventually bring them back to a south Minneapolis Community Safety Center just down the street at 2633 Minnehaha Av.
What to do with the former police station – home to what has been called a “playground” for renegade cops – has been the subject of heated debate, with the Minneapolis City Council and Mayor Jacob Frey at odds.
While the city debated its future, some conservatives jumped at the chance to use the charred building as a backdrop to hold press conferences and news reports in which they blasted the city and its leaders. Most recently, vice presidential nominee JD Vance made a campaign stop in front of the building earlier this month to blast his opponent, Gov. Tim Walz, for his handling of the 2020 riots and portray Minneapolis as a city overrun with crime.
GOP vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance speaks outside the former Minneapolis Police 3rd Precinct building in Minneapolis on Oct. 14. (Leila Navidi)
After that, several council members expressed frustration at the city’s failure to clean up the site. Despite signs saying “cleanup efforts are underway,” concrete barriers, fencing and razor wire remained all summer.
Council Member Aurin Chowdhury said earlier this month that the blight makes people feel uncared for and gives opportunists a backdrop to manipulate the scene for political gain.
Council Member Linea Palmisano blamed some of her council colleagues for the delays, accusing some members of being “desperate for any objection” to Frey’s proposal. The council passed a resolution saying that the building should not be used for any law enforcement functions again. Palmisano called it disgraceful that the building remains, scarred and secured, over four years later.
Star Tribune
Sentencing set for Monday morning for a Minnesota man who was drunk and speeding when he hit a woman’s SUV and killed her.
A man with a history of driving drunk received a four-year term Monday for being intoxicated and speeding when he hit a woman’s SUV on a southern Minnesota highway and killed her.
John R. Deleo, 54, of Lake Crystal, Minn., was sentenced in Brown County District Court after pleading guilty to criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the crash on Aug. 17, 2023, in New Ulm at Hwy. 68 and S. 15th Street that killed 82-year-old Sharon A. Portner, of New Ulm.
With credit for the two days he was in jail after his arrest, Deleo is expected to serve the first 2⅔ years years of his term in prison and the balance on supervised release.
A week ahead of sentencing, defense attorney James Kuettner asked the court to spare his client prison and put him on probation for up to five years.
Kuettner pointed out in his filing that Deleo stayed at the crash scene and attempted “to aid Portner, and he left [her] side only when directed to by law enforcement.”
The attorney also noted that Deleo has been sober since the crash, and therefore, at a particularly low risk for reoffending.
According to the criminal complaint:
Police arrived to find the two damaged vehicles near 15th and S. Broadway streets. Emergency responders took Portner to New Ulm Medical Center, where she died that day.
ROCHESTER – The defense for Shane Roper, the former state trooper charged for his role in a crash that killed Owatonna teenager Olivia Flores, has asked the court to dismiss eight of the nine charges against him.
In a motion filed Oct. 24, Roper’s attorneys said the state has “failed to meet its burden of offering direct evidence tending to demonstrate that [Roper’s] actions, or negligence, were the proximate cause of death or bodily harm.”
Roper, 32, faces nine criminal charges related to the May 18 crash, including felony charges of second-degree manslaughter and criminal vehicular homicide. Both charges carry maximum sentences of 10 years in jail.
The only charge the defense did not ask to have dismissed is a misdemeanor for careless driving, which carries a maximum sentence of 90 days in jail.
Among the other requests made to the court, Roper’s defense asked for a change of venue outside of Olmsted County, citing the extensive media coverage of the case. The defense said “jury pools have surely been tainted and a fair trial cannot be had” in the county.
Roper’s attorney, Eric Nelson of Halberg Criminal Defense, also argued that any evidence related to Roper’s prior speeding or traffic incidents should be precluded as evidence in the case.
In the five years leading up to the crash, Roper had been disciplined by the State Patrol on four separate occasions for careless or reckless driving, including a February 2019 crash that injured another officer.
District Judge Christa Daily has not responded to the motions. Roper is scheduled to be back in court Nov. 21 for a pretrial settlement conference.
Star Tribune
Who is comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who insulted Puerto Rico at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally?
NEW YORK — Of the nearly 30 speakers who recently warmed up the crowd for Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe got the most attention for racist remarks.
”I don’t know if you guys know this, but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico,” he said, later including lewd and racist comments about Latinos, Jewish and Black people.
The comments have led to condemnation from Democrats and Puerto Rican celebrities, with Ricky Martin sharing a clip of Hinchcliffe’s set, captioned: “This is what they think of us.”
The Trump campaign took the rare step of distancing itself from Hinchcliffe. ”This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign,” senior adviser Danielle Alvarez said in a statement.
Here’s what to know about Hinchcliffe, his comedic styling and the response to his Madision Square Garden comments.
Hinchcliffe, raised in Youngstown, Ohio, is a stand-up comedian who specializes in the roast style, in which comedians take the podium to needle a celebrity victim with personal and often tasteless jokes. He has written and appeared on eight Comedy Central Roasts, including ones for Snoop Dogg and Tom Brady.
Even fellow comedians aren’t immune. At the Snoop Dogg roast, Hichcliffe made a joke referencing comedian Luenell, who is Black, being on the Underground Railroad. Of the honoree, he said: ”Snoop, you look like the California Raisin that got hooked on heroin.”
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