Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.
False GOP Statistics Increased by 87% This Week
Is a claim really “inaccurate” if you clearly just made it up?
Taking their cues from our racist grandpa of a president, who woke up just long enough this week to call Somali-Americans “garbage,” GOP officials have been pulling stats out of their asses to back up racist claims about how immigration has destroyed Minnesota.
Let’s start with canicidal sociopath Kristi Noem, the Director of Homeland Security. Following her boss’s m.o. of “just saying stuff,” Noem claimed in yesterday’s cabinet meeting that “Minnesota and their fraud on visas and their programs—50% of them are fraudulent, which means that that wacko Governor Walz either is an idiot or he did it on purpose."
That’s… not the most clearly articulated position, but if Noem is saying 50% of visas issued to Minnesota residents are fraudulent, she’s got nothing to back that up. Even a targeted investigation of 1,000 immigration cases by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services resulted in only four charges of fraud.
As for the state’s involvement, a spokesperson for Gov. Tim Walz’s office stated, "These comments are puzzling, seeing as the federal government is solely responsible for immigration and visas."
Closer to home, doltish Trump minion Tom Emmer (R-MN) appeared on Fox Business Wednesday to claim that “80% of the crimes being committed in the Twin Cities Minnesota are being committed by Somalis.” Madison McVan handily debunks this strange fiction over at the Reformer.
Trump, of course, has accused Somali-Americans of defrauding the state of “billions” of dollars based on, you know, vibes. The entire Feeding Our Future fraud case amounts to $250 million. A lot of money, yes, but less than Eric Trump's net worth has increased (totally legitimately, for sure) since the 2024 election. It's also worth mentioning that the scheme's convicted ringleader, Aimee Bock, is very much not Somali.
Anyway, if I told you it was 137 degrees outside or that my 2009 Civic is worth $4 billion dollars, you could certainly prove me wrong. Or you could just stop believing anything I said.
Can ICE Handle Ice?
I’m not in the habit of complimenting New York Times headlines—lotta unconstitutional power grabs getting described as “bold challenges to traditional norms” over there. But I gotta hand it to them for this one: “Obstacles to Trump’s Push to Deport Minnesota Somalis: Reality and the Cold.”
Let’s look at reality first. Here are some stats: 95% of the people of Somali descent in Minnesota are U.S. citizens, and 58% were born in the U.S. That leaves even the most determined goon squad with very few “illegal aliens” to deport.
So there are two avenues for ICE agents to pursue. They can (and have and will continue to) hassle and detain citizens, even if that practice seems unconstitutionally discriminatory to most of us who aren't named Brett Kavanaugh. They can also start opening up old naturalization cases and looking for uncrossed t's and undotted i's.
Which brings us to the weather. I don’t know if you’ve been outside today but buh-fucking-rrrrr! Remember: If you’re cold, they’re cold. And by “they” I mean the camo-clad weekend warriors Trump has chosen to dispatch to Minnesota just as temperatures drop below zero. This is some real Napoleon in Moscow shit.
The situation would be downright comical if there wasn’t a concerted effort to terrorize people because of where they or their parents or grandparents were born, and if families weren't going to be torn apart.
More Like WayNO
As with most tech companies, the driverless car service Waymo sells itself as an inevitability. You can’t stop the future, Luddites. By this logic, Waymo wants to come to Minneapolis, and therefore Waymo is coming to Minneapolis.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey would appear to be on board (transportation term) with that sentiment. Frey has said that driverless cars are “clearly coming,” apparently unaware that city governments can make decisions about how they want to operate and pass ordinances accordingly.
And as Deena Winter reports for the Strib today, several City Council members have serious concerns with Waymo coming to town. Among them is Ward 6 City Council Member Jamal Osman, who reps many people of East African descent who work in the rideshare biz.
“Either we can have these multimillionaire companies meet the mayor or governor in a back room … or have some kind of really strong action to make sure that this is not happening," Osman says.
Ward 2 Council Member Robin Wonsley has stated even stronger objections:
Wonsley said the sudden news of Waymo testing cars echoes Uber and Lyft’s entry into the city a decade ago, when a “lack of political will” by city leaders led to “years of playing catchup” to regulate the industry and protect workers.
The council member said the city should prioritize “labor, community, and accountability” when deciding on WayMo’s future in Minneapolis.
Lutsen Lodge Owner Nabbed for Arson
Not many people had a motive for burning down the historic Lutsen Lodge in February 2024, but the lodge’s owner, Bryce James Campbell, sure did. Campbell, who bought the resort in 2018, was reportedly $14 million in debt. After the fire, he collected $16 million in insurance.
Today, state investigators charged Campbell with arson and insurance fraud, and there are some incriminating communications on Campbell's end. According to KSTP:
Campbell's phone and Facebook records revealed discussions about financial distress and joking references to burning down the resort, including saying "just burn it" to a Facebook message about money that was owed days before the fire.
One person who’s been on this case all along is journalist Joe Friedrichs. Back in July he spoke to RacketCast about his project The Fire: A Lutsen Podcast. This’d probably be a good time to catch up on that.
