Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.
MN U.S. Attorney’s Office “Severely Understaffed and in Crisis”
Over the weekend, locally based New York Times man Ernesto Londoño delivered a big-time scoop on the Trump administration apparently trying to cover up the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. The upshot? Prosecutors started investigating Renee Good’s killing; FBI Director Kash Patel told them to stop. This passage from Londoño's article is particularly galling:
As F.B.I. agents equipped with a signed warrant prepared to document blood spatter and bullet holes in Renee Good’s S.U.V., they received orders to stop, according to several people with knowledge of the events who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. The orders, they said, came from senior officials, including Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director, several of whom worried that pursuing a civil rights investigation—by using a warrant obtained on that basis—would contradict President Trump’s claim that Ms. Good "violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer" who fired at her as she drove her vehicle.
Now several top prosecutors have resigned in protest, leaving Minnesota’s U.S. attorney’s office “severely understaffed and in crisis.”
“This is potentially destroying all of the progress that we have made, working together between local and federal law enforcement officials in a very coordinated way, to actually go after the worst of the worst,” MPD Chief Brian O'Hara tells the Times. (Speaking of that "worst of the worst" framing, CBS News found that "less than 14% of nearly 400,000 immigrants arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in President Trump's first year back in the White House had charges or convictions for violent criminal offenses.")
“It will take years to build the contacts in state and local law enforcement that have been lost," concludes Andy Luger, former U.S. attorney for the District of Minnesota.
Soren to Mother Jones: "The Trump Administration Picked a Fight That They’re Going to Lose"
As a civically engaged Minneapolitan, you likely already know the broad strokes of Soren Stevenson’s biography. Six years ago, after the murder of George Floyd, cops shot the future Minneapolis City Council member in the face with a rubber bullet, causing him to lose his left eye and most of his sense of smell.
But now, with our city under international scrutiny yet again, the readership of Mother Jones magazine is getting to know Stevenson. In this Q&A, MJ reporter Julia Lurie notes that the newly elected council member was still getting his city email account set up when Renee Good was killed by an immigration officer last month, and days after their interview Alex Pretti met the same fate.
Stevenson has plenty to say on the issues of state violence, Minneapolis in turmoil, and community resilience in the face of it all. This quote jumped out to me...
I think [the Trump administration] thought they were just going to come in, create some bad optics for the city, and leave. But in fact what’s happened is they’ve come in and they’ve found that we’re not just insane people who are going to light our city on fire. We are people who care about each other, and we want our neighborhoods to be thriving and successful. They’re getting a different fight than they expected. And we live here—it’s not like we can just quit at any point, because we’re going to continue to live here—but this invasion from ICE is temporary. It will end at some point, and we’re going to still be united. We’re going to still be looking out for each other when they’re gone.
Lindell Gubernatorial Campaign Spending Big on Lindell Autobiography
Why is Mike Lindell suddenly moving units of his 2019 memoir, What Are the Odds? From Crack Addict to CEO? The answer just might make you laugh at the GOP gubernatorial candidate's expense. Turns out the crackpot pillow magnate spent around $190,000 of its $352,000 campaign donation war chest on copies of the book.
Minnesota Reformer reporter Michelle Griffith had some fun with this campaign finance data info, wondering aloud whether the 20,000 to 25,000 books were obtained at the $19.97 retail price point or if Lindell managed to score the $10 off promo price. “When we’re going around to all the places in Minnesota, other people are giving a flyer,” Lindell explains to Griffith. “I’m giving them the whole book so they know who I am.”
The junkie-to-riches saga in What Are the Odds? might need an updated forward; last year Lindell told a judge "I'm in ruins" after years of legal battles related to his baseless stolen election claims. Maybe the idea of rent-free life inside the Governor's Mansion is animating his current run. In other conspiracy-pushing 2026 governor's race news: 2022 loser Dr. Scott "Litterbox" Jensen is bowing out to focus on a losing bid to be state auditor.
How to Help: A Week to Shop Local for Truth & Freedom
Truth? Sign me up. Freedom? Love the stuff. Buying things? Can be fun. So you can imagine my excitement upon hearing about the ICE Out of MN coalition's "A Week to Shop Local for Truth & Freedom" initiative. "Small businesses and entrepreneurs are showing courage in the face of unchecked federal power—while many large corporations have remained silent and complicit," the group notes, correctly.
Your call to action: Spend money at the many Minnesota small businesses that pop up via this nifty search tool. Bonus points if they're located along immigrant-rich cultural corridors, many of which are being highlighted on select days running from Monday through Saturday. If nothing else, "A Week to Shop Local for Truth & Freedom" should inspire certain both-sides centrist pundits to offer sincere contrition for their kneejerk "the anti-ICE protesters are killing the economy!" takes.
