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Protester on Twin Cities billboard uses slingshot on police and others below

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A man whose protest atop a South St. Paul billboard has stretched for weeks has been charged with using a slingshot to shoot metal objects at police and workers below.

Matthew Jon Becker, 46, of West St. Paul, was charged in Dakota County District Court last week with obstructing the legal process and first-degree property damage, both felonies, and misdemeanor assault for allegedly taking aim from the billboard near Interstate 494 and Concord Street.

Becker has been on the billboard since Oct. 4 in connection with his allegations that Dakota County has protected a Burnsville man who court records show was convicted in Scott County of criminal sexual conduct.

As recently as Sunday afternoon, Becker posted the latest of many YouTube videos from his perch. He said that despite feeling a bit under the weather, he has no intention to come down.

On Oct. 25, police were sent to the billboard regarding a disturbance. Workers were there attempting to erect a fence around the base of the billboard when they were struck by objects Becker fired out of a slingshot.

One object struck a police squad vehicle while an officer was standing close by. The officer recovered an object that resembled a small metal ball bearing.

One worker was struck in the ankle and left with a red mark.



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Ex-manager at small town grocery store accused again of sexual assault

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The victim told police on Sept. 10 that Shelton had flirted with her during work shifts and scheduled her hours to align with when he managed the store. She said they had sexually charged late-night conversations.

The victim told police that Shelton pushed himself against her one day as she was cleaning coffee pots in a back room of the grocery store. She said Shelton also inappropriately touched her in his office and in her car.

The sexual assaults stopped when Shelton’s significant other learned about the relationship in 2021 and started texting the victim. The victim said she quit her job at this point, and did not hear from Shelton until Aug. 20 this year, two days before his arrest. In text messages reviewed by police, Shelton apologized and said he missed their friendship.

Police said Shelton admitted to the three assaults.

They had arrested Shelton on Aug. 22 after receiving word that he had been exchanging explicit messages with a different teenage cashier.

The previous victim told police that Shelton, her supervisor since she started working at the Market as a 14-year-old in 2022, had sexually assaulted her inside his office on the second floor of the store.



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20-year term for man who fatally shot victim at Minneapolis light-rail station on Christmas Eve 2020

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A man has received a 20-year prison term for a fatal shooting at a Minneapolis light-rail station on Christmas Eve nearly four years ago in a dispute over a small amount of money.

Tenzin Yamgha, 30, of Anoka, was sentenced in Hennepin County District Court last week after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in connection with the shooting on Dec. 24, 2020, of Malcolm J. Williams, 29, of Minneapolis at the station located at E. Lake Street and S. Hiawatha Avenue.

With credit for time in jail since his arrest, Yamgha is expected to serve just shy of 12 years in prison and the balance on supervised release.

Yamgha’s criminal history in Minnesota also includes convictions for various drug offenses, illegal weapons possession, fleeing police, domestic assault and burglary.

In a statement issued Monday, County Attorney Mary Moriarty said the family’s “wait for a resolution to this case spanned nearly four years. While no sentence will return Mr. Williams to them, [the sentence] brings accountability to Mr. Yamgha and protects the community from him in the years ahead.”

Officers were dispatched to the light-rail station, where they found Williams in the lobby area of the upstairs escalator. He was shot several times and died at the scene.

Station video surveillance showed Yamgha entering the lobby accompanied by his girlfriend. Williams approached and confronted Yamgha, who said, “I will pull the trigger.”



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In latest self-defense ruling, Minnesota Supreme Court orders new trial for man who killed robber

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Baker was convicted of both counts. His lawyers appealed.

A Minnesota appeals court sided with the district court, writing that Baker “was not content with simply neutralizing Anderson’s threat, but was motivated by vengeance.”

That argument stemmed from statements made by Baker to police that the victims were running away when he shot at them and phone calls Baker made in prison where he told his girlfriend he was “mad as hell” the other robbery suspect got away when he started shooting.

The appeals court opinion, written by Judge Michael Kirk, argued, “Baker had not demonstrated the absence of a reasonable possibility of retreat, equally support the conclusion that his use of deadly force was unreasonable.” Kirk wrote that “no reasonable jury” would find that Baker’s use of force was justifiable so the district court did not “abuse its discretion” by failing to instruct the jury on the law of self-defense and defense of others.

The Minnesota Supreme Court disagreed.

The crux of Hudson’s opinion focuses on Baker’s right to have self-defense and defense of others considered by the jury at closing arguments, not whether Baker’s argument would overturn the guilty verdict.



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