Minneapolis, MN
Letter carriers raise alarm over assaults, call for protections
Letter carriers rallied Sunday outside the downtown Minneapolis Post Office to raise awareness and call for on-the-job safety for their ranks.
Previously rare, attacks on letter carriers have spiked in recent years, with more than 2,000 violent attacks nationally since 2020, said leaders of the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC). Letter carriers in Detroit, Phoenix, Cincinnati and other cities have rallied with a similar message in recent months, according to media reports.
“Since the Postal Service was founded nearly 250 years ago, letter carriers in uniform have been able to walk down the meanest streets of this country without incident,” NALC President Brian Renfroe said to an crowd of more than 60 that turned out in below-freezing weather. “Nobody messed with us, remember that? That’s no longer the case.”
Joseph Tiemann, NALC Branch 9 executive vice president, said Minnesota wasn’t on the list of places that had seen such attacks until November, when carriers in Edina and Brooklyn Center were robbed at gunpoint within 24 hours of each other.
“Fortunately, in these two cases, nobody was physically harmed, but the trauma lives,” Tiemann said, adding that he had heard Friday that a suspect had been caught in the cases. “This is something that a letter carrier should never have to experience.”
Patrick Johnson, NALC regional national business agent, said there have been more than 30 violent attacks against letter carriers in Region 7, which includes Minnesota, Wisconsin and the Dakotas, in 2022 and 2023, including the Dec. 2022 shooting death of Milwaukee letter carrier Aundre Cross. Nationally, Johnson said, only 14% of assaults on letter carriers resulted in prosecution.
Assaults are increasing as fraudsters have developed schemes that make getting access to mail profitable, Renfroe said.
One of those schemes is check washing, which involves stealing checks from the mail, changing information on them, such as payee name and dollar amounts, and then depositing or duplicating them, Renfroe said.
“Gaining access to the mail is not the reason for 100 percent of these crimes, but the vast majority — either to steal the mail directly or to gain access to our keys that we use to access mailboxes,” Renfroe said.
Speakers at the rally called for the U.S. Postal Service to do a better job of protecting workers, and for the U.S. Justice Department to deter attacks by heavily prosecuting people who attack letter carriers.
In May of 2023, the U.S. Postal Service and Postal Inspection Service launched Project Safe Delivery, an effort to reduce postal crimes with measures including enforcement surges, installing more secure mail collection boxes and replacing old locks with electronic ones as carriers were targeted for their keys.
At the rally, NALC leaders also asked community members to keep an eye out for carriers, just as carriers often serve as the eyes and ears of the neighborhoods they work in.
“If you see your letter carrier walking down the street, watching them walk to the end of the block could literally be the difference between this happening or this not happening. Just keep your eyes open,” Renfroe said.
Daniel Brito, who delivers mail south of downtown Minneapolis, showed up to the rally with a homemade sign that read, “My safety is flat rate priority.” He said he and his father are both letter carriers and the prospect of either of them being assaulted is terrifying.
Manon Wojack has been a letter carrier in north Minneapolis’ Lowry station for nearly 24 years. She said that in many cases, such as the unrest of 2020, postal workers have brought hope to communities.
“We stood together. Now we have to have hope that we make it home safe at night,” she said.
Minneapolis, MN
Man killed over Louie Vuitton bag, suspect was on bond for suspected carjacking, charges say
Minneapolis police are investigating a homicide on Feb. 24, 2026. (FOX 9)
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – A man is dead after a witness said he refused to give up a Louis Vuitton bag while being robbed by multiple men at gunpoint.
Abdirahman Khayre Khayre, 20, is charged with second-degree murder and first-degree robbery for the incident that happened on the evening of Feb. 24 in Minneapolis.
READ MORE: Man fatally shot in south Minneapolis apartment building
Fatal Minneapolis shooting after robbery
The set-up:
Minneapolis police responded around 10:42 p.m. on Feb. 24 at the Abbott Apartments, located on the 100 block of East 18th Street in the Stevens Square neighborhood of Minneapolis.
Officers then found a dead man in the lobby who had been shot multiple times.
A witness to the shooting said he and the victim arrived at the apartments to “hang out” with Khayre, according to the criminal complaint.
The witness said he became suspicious when Khayre he left the room multiple times and “appeared to be stalling.”
The robbery:
The complaint states the witness reported three men then came into the room and yelled “Give me everything.” The men were armed with Glock handguns that had extended magazines as well as an AR-style rifle.
They then stole two guns from the witness, and one of them was handed to Khayre.
When the men demanded a Louis Vuitton bag from the victim, he refused, leading to a fight between them all.
The shooting:
The witness said when he walked toward them, Khayre pointed the witness’ stolen gun at him and racked it.
The witness then got out of the room, ran toward the lobby and heard multiple gunshots. He then saw two of the men flee out the back of the building, but didn’t see what direction they went in.
The victim was then found dead.
The aftermath:
Khayre was then identified by the witness in a photo lineup, according to the criminal complaint.
Police say video footage corroborated much of what the witness reported.
Khayre was on conditional release for a suspected carjacking at the time of the shooting, according to the complaint.
The Source: This story uses information gathered from a criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County and previous FOX 9 reporting.
Minneapolis, MN
Minnesota’s Iranian community: Mixed emotions on US-Israel strike
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – The local Iranian community in Minnesota is expressing mixed emotions following the recent joint U.S.-Israel strike on Iran.
Local reactions to the strike
What we know:
The strike resulted in the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, according to President Donald Trump and Iranian state media. Many Iranians in Minnesota feel this could lead to freedom for their country.
Nazanin Naferipoor shared that her sister in Iran was initially happy about the strike, believing it might bring about freedom. However, communication has been cut off since the strike began, leaving many worried about their loved ones.
The other side:
Hamid Kashani from the Minnesota Committee in Support of a Democratic Iran expressed mixed feelings about the strike. While he hopes for change, he is concerned about the potential loss of innocent lives.
Fazy Kowsari emphasized that the attack targeted the government, not the religion, and criticized the political motivations behind the strike.
Upcoming rally at Nicollet Mall
Why you should care:
A rally is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon at Nicollet Mall and 11th Street. Organizers view the U.S. strike as a rescue operation for Iranians held hostage by the regime, rather than an act of war.
Minneapolis, MN
Ex-MN Twins Pitcher Sentenced For Shooting His In-Laws
AUBURN, CA — Former Major League Baseball pitcher Dan Serafini was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for murdering his father-in-law and attempting to murder his mother-in-law in a 2021 ambush-style shooting at a Lake Tahoe-area home.
A Placer County jury previously found Serafini, 51, guilty of fatally shooting 70-year-old Gary Spohr and seriously wounding Spohr’s wife, 68-year-old Wendy Wood, on June 5, 2021, at their home on the lake’s west shore. Wood survived the attack but died a year later.
In a statement obtained by The Associated Press, Placer County District Attorney Morgan Gire said that Spohr and Wood were loving grandparents and detailed how Serafini’s crimes had affected the couple’s family members and friends.
“The impact of this attack has extended far beyond the immediate victims, deeply affecting family members and the broader community, and highlighting the lasting harm caused by deliberate violence,” Gire said.
On the day of the shooting, Serafini’s wife, the victims’ daughter, had taken the children to the lake to visit their grandparents.
Prosecutors said the deadly ambush stemmed from a dispute over a $1.3 million investment in a ranch renovation project. The victims had reportedly contributed the money.
In one text message shown in court, Serafini wrote, “I’m gonna kill them one day,” referencing a dispute over $21,000, prosecutors said.
He also sent other threatening messages, including “I will be coming after you” and “Take me to court,” according to ABC10.
Jurors also found Serafini guilty of several “special circumstance” sentencing enhancements, including lying in wait, use of a firearm, and that the attack was willful, deliberate and premeditated. He was also convicted of first-degree burglary.
Prosecutors had also charged Serafini with child endangerment, saying he put his infant and toddler sons at risk by having a gun in the home. Jurors found him not guilty on that count.
The case also involved a second defendant, 33-year-old Samantha Scott, who pleaded guilty to being an accessory in February, according to the New York Post.
A left-hander, Serafini was a 1992 first-round pick for the Minnesota Twins. He also played for the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds and Colorado Rockies, pitching for six MLB teams over seven seasons.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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