Minneapolis, MN
Former Minneapolis coach and teacher indicted on 12 counts of criminal sexual conduct
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Minneapolis, MN
Ex-Minneapolis Teacher Assaulted A Dozen Kids Under 13: Police
MINNEAPOLIS — A former Minneapolis teacher and coach was indicted on 12 counts of criminal sexual conduct, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced Thursday.
The grand jury indictment accuses Aaron Hjermstad, 50, of first-degree criminal sexual conduct involving the penetration of 12 different victims all under the age of 13.
Each count carries a sentence of up to life in prison but with the possibility of parole.
Find out what’s happening in Southwest Minneapoliswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Hjermstad coached many of the victims or one of their relatives, prosecutors said. The assaults occurred from 2013 to 2021, according to investigators.
“The number of children who were sexually assaulted by Hjermstad is horrific,” Moriarty said in a statement.
Find out what’s happening in Southwest Minneapoliswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
“Hjermstad intentionally harmed children who had every right to trust him as their teacher and coach. We will seek lengthy prison sentences to keep children in our community safe.”
The assaults took place while Hjermstad was a physical education and health teacher at The Mastery School and a basketball coach at Hospitality House Youth Development and Harvest Best Academy, authorities said.
Hjermstad is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence for sexually assaulting four boys he had coached.
But before sentencing on those cases, Hjermstad fled the state. In December 2021, he was pulled over and arrested in Idaho.
During the traffic stop, police found data showing thousands of videos of him assaulting children, some at his Brooklyn Center home, according to prosecutors. Among them were the 12 victims in this new case, authorities said.
“As a community, we must do more to help abused children come forward and to provide resources to heal the harm inflicted upon them,” Moriarty said. “Abuse is never a child’s fault.”
State and county authorities are encouraging anyone else who was a victim of Hjermstad to come forward “to ensure victims receive the necessary support and resources.”
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To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.
Minneapolis, MN
City of Minneapolis extends funding deadline for proposed urban farm at Roof Depot site
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – After a key deadline passed in July, a proposed urban farm project at the Roof Depot site in Minneapolis has new life.
What’s new?
The decade-long push to redevelop the former Roof Depot warehouse into an urban farm and housing co-op will continue for at least another year. The Minneapolis City Council on Thursday gave developers a one-year extension to purchase the property.
How will they pay for it?
But gathering the capital to finance the $11.4 million purchase has proven difficult. In May, the state legislature failed to pass a measure that would have forked over the remaining $5.7 million needed to close the deal. The East Phillips Neighborhood Institute, a community organization spearheading the effort to purchase the vacant lot, raised $3.7 million itself, with another $2 million coming from the state.
What are they saying?
“Please see us. We deserve better. And we demand better,” said Kelly Morgan, who lives near the site of the proposed co-op.
He fears what will happen if the project ultimately fails to move forward.
“It will be another injustice committed against Little Earth of United tribes, specifically, and all of East Phillips residents.”
Background
The city initially planned to convert the property into a public works facility, but abandoned that idea after community pushback. The city then agreed to sell the property to developers, who have struggled to secure the necessary funding.
“I don’t think we can ever be 100 percent confident in politics, right?” said State Rep. Samantha Sencer-Mura, DFL-Minneapolis. “And, as we saw, really heartbreakingly, in May, $5.7 million was on the line and didn’t pass.”
But even if developers secure the required capital, they will need millions more to start construction.
“It isn’t all roses,” said Council Member Jason Chavez, who represents Ward 9. “Once the state gets this done, which I feel very confident that we can do, the county and the city will need to team up and work together on the development of the project and making sure that this gets off the ground.”
Chavez noted that funding for construction could also come from private sources, such as investors or philanthropists. He said federal grants for that phase of the project are complicated now because developers do not own the property.
The new deadline for developers to close on the property is Sept. 15, 2025.
Timeline
Minneapolis, MN
Minneapolis City Council approves year extension for activists to purchase Roof Depot for indoor urban farm
Just one week before the final deadline for East Phillips environmental activists to come up with $11.4 million to buy a city-owned warehouse for their vision of an indoor urban farm, the Minneapolis City Council on Thursday granted the activists a one-year extension to get the funding.
It’s the latest twist in the long fight of East Phillips Neighborhood Institute (EPNI) to gain control of the former Roof Depot warehouse at E. 28th Street and Longfellow Avenue.
For a decade, neighborhood activists have opposed the city’s plans to build a Public Works yard for water maintenance staff, equipment and diesel vehicles — something that city staff said would benefit Minneapolis as a whole despite concentrating more air pollution in the heavily industrialized, working class East Phillips neighborhood.
Council Member Jason Chavez, who represents East Phillips, and his council predecessor Alondra Cano have long opposed building a municipal water yard in the Ninth Ward, while other council members have waffled on the thorny issue.
On Thursday, Chavez won the unanimous support of his colleagues at the City Council meeting for a resolution to extend the funding deadline to September 2025 for EPNI, which was unlikely to come up with the money by the previous deadline of next week.
“This item today that I am bringing forward is a collaborative effort with the mayor’s administration, City Council, staff and the community I represent to find a viable pathway forward, and it shows what we can do when we all work together,” Chavez said.
“I’m proud of the tenacity of East Phillips neighbors, their persistence on human rights and advocacy for clean air. It’s one of the reasons why Ward Nine continues to be hopeful for the future.”
After years of protests and lawsuits, Minneapolis officials gave up on plans to build a water yard at Roof Depot and agreed to sell EPNI the property, provided the group produced a $3.7 million personal guaranty and the Legislature provided $2 million in 2023 followed by $5.7 million in 2024. The Legislature also has committed $4.5 million to Minneapolis to find a new site for its water yard.
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