Minnesota
EDITORIAL | Minnesota group rallies to stand with Ukraine
Opinion editor’s note: Editorials represent the opinions of the Star Tribune Editorial Board, which operates independently from the newsroom.
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Minnesotans Maria Doan and several representatives from Stand With Ukraine MN are traveling to Washington, D.C., to join more than 500 advocates from 45 states to lobby Congress on backing Ukraine in its existential fight against Russia. In meetings that run through Tuesday, they’ll try to meet with Minnesota’s congressional delegation as part of the Ukraine Action Summit, which is advocating that the House match the bipartisan Senate vote to allocate about $60 billion that is so desperately needed for Ukraine’s survival.
That need is reflected in an analysis recently published in Foreign Affairs by Dara Massicot, a senior fellow in the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “Russian advantages in manpower, materiel, and defense production have grown in the past year, whereas U.S. ammunition deliveries have been throttled and are at risk of being curtailed almost entirely because of an impasse over funding in the U.S. Congress,” Massicot wrote. That view was amplified on Wednesday by the top general for U.S. forces in Europe, who told Congress that in just a matter of weeks Ukraine will be outgunned by a 10-1 margin.
Doan, the policy and outreach director for Stand with Ukraine MN, which was formed right before Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022, told an editorial writer that “it’s important to emphasize the fact that we’re talking about national security, we’re talking about global security, we’re talking about the fact that a Ukraine victory is going to enhance NATO security, American and allies’ security. It’s utterly important that this bill passes; failure to do so will have drastic consequences.”
But sadly, foreign policy debates on Capitol Hill these days seem to be more about domestic politics than the geopolitical stakes Doan rightly describes. That’s because House Republicans have hyper empowered members such as Marjorie Taylor Greene, the QAnon conspiracy theorist turned Republican representative from Georgia, to threaten House Speaker Mike Johnson’s job if he proceeds with a vote on funding Ukraine.
Gone, it seems, are the days when politics were supposed to stop at the water’s edge and the GOP was resolutely resistant to Soviet expansionism and Russian revanchism. Instead, Greene’s reckless rhetoric on Russia and Ukraine, which is echoed and amplified by several hard-right representatives, reflects Russian propaganda that has “infected a good chunk of my party’s base,” Republican Rep. Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a recent interview with Puck News. McCaul also called out “some more nighttime entertainment shows” on conservative cable outlets where “it’s almost identical” to Russian propaganda. Not stopping there, McCaul added “these people that read various conspiracy-theory outlets that are just not accurate, and they actually model Russian propaganda.”
McCaul isn’t the only prominent House Republican reckoning with rhetorical echoes from the Kremlin. Ohio Rep. Michael R. Turner, who chairs the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, concurred with McCaul, saying on CNN’s “State of the Union” that “We see directly coming from Russia attempts to mask communications that are anti-Ukraine and pro-Russia messages — some of which we even hear being uttered on the House floor.” This makes it more difficult to rightly position the war as “an authoritarian-vs.-democracy battle” said Turner, who added that “Ukraine needs our help and assistance now, and this is a very critical time for the U.S. Congress to step up and provide that aid.”
Doan, a native Ukrainian who is now a U.S. citizen, said, “The only thing that Ukrainians are asking for are the tools to help them.”
And in turn, for the U.S. to help itself. “Strongmen like [Russian President Vladimir] Putin,” Doan said, “are not going to be stopped just simply by negotiations.”
Doan added that Stand With Ukraine MN will also remind representatives and senators that most of the expenditures for weaponry are invested in the U.S., including in Minnesota, and that most profoundly, geopolitics beyond Eastern Europe are at stake. “China, North Korea, Iran — they’re all watching the United States’ response in Ukraine; it’s going to affect the way adversarial countries are going to behave in the future.”
Allies are alert, too. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida reaffirmed his “strong support for Ukraine” during a state visit to Washington on Wednesday, adding that “Ukraine today may be East Asia tomorrow.”
Minnesota’s congressional delegation should hear Stand With Ukraine MN’s reasonable appeal instead of the rants of Greene or others spreading Russia’s message.
Then, in what will be a career- and character-defining vote, they should indeed stand with Ukraine and approve the funding before even more Ukrainian territory — and, most importantly, lives — are lost.
Minnesota
Shorthanded Clippers can’t keep pace with Anthony Edwards and Minnesota
Anthony Edwards scored 31 points, Donte DiVincenzo added 18 and the surging Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Clippers 94-88 on Thursday night.
Jaden McDaniels and Ayo Dosunmu each scored 12 points and Rudy Gobert had 13 rebounds to help the Timberwolves improve to 5-1 since Feb. 9 and 3-1 since the All-Star break.
Edwards, returning to the site of the All-Star Game, where he was the MVP, was 12 for 24 from the floor and sealed the victory with a step-back three-pointer over two defenders for a 92-88 lead with 42.9 seconds left.
Minnesota improved to 2-0 on a three-game trip.
Derrick Jones Jr. scored 18 points and Bennedict Mathurin added 14 for the Clippers, who struggled from the outset with a season-low 38 points in the first half. Kris Dunn had 11 points for the Clippers (27-31), who have lost three consecutive games for the first time since December.
The Clippers struggled on offense without star Kawhi Leonard, out because of ankle soreness. The Clippers shot 40.5% from the floor, including 18.2% (four for 22) in the second quarter. Minnesota shot 43.4% in the game.
The Timberwolves (37-23) scored just 15 points in the second quarter and still topped the Clippers, who had 11. Minnesota led 44-38 at halftime behind 12 points from DiVincenzo and 11 from Edwards.
The Clippers led by six in the third quarter and were up 68-63 heading into the fourth. Edwards’ drive and reverse layup put the Timberwolves up for good at 76-74 with 7:40 remaining.
The Clippers pulled within one three times in the last 2½ minutes, but Edwards answered each time. He scored the Timberwolves’ last nine points.
Up next for Clippers: vs. New Orleans on Sunday night.
Minnesota
Church congregant filed lawsuit against alleged Minnesota church protesters
A St. Paul church member has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that a group of individuals, including journalist Don Lemon and activist Nekima Levy Armstrong, unlawfully disrupted service last month as part of a coordinated political demonstration.
The complaint, filed by Ann Doucette in the U.S. District Court of Minnesota, alleges that a Jan. 18 demonstration at Cities Church interfered with her ability to worship and caused her to suffer damages, including emotional distress and trauma.
In addition to the former CNN anchor and Armstrong, the complaint names journalist Georgia Fort and activists Will Kelly, Jerome Richardson, Trahern Crews and Jamael Lundy. It also names St. Paul school board member Chauntyll Allen.
Doucette and seven of the defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Doucette filed the complaint without the representation of an attorney. In an emailed statement to NBC News, Crews denied the lawsuit’s allegations “with empathy and compassion.”
The lawsuit accuses the group of civil conspiracy, aiding and abetting, intentional infliction of emotional distress, interference with religious exercise and trespassing.
“As a result of Defendants’ actions, the worship service was disrupted, congregants experienced fear and distress, and Plaintiff’s ability to freely exercise her religion in a private place of worship was unlawfully interfered with,” the lawsuit states.
All eight defendants are also facing federal charges for conspiracy against the rights of religious freedom at a place of worship and for interfering with the exercise of the right of religious freedom. Lemon has pleaded not guilty to all charges, saying outside the court, “I wanted to say this isn’t just about me, this is about all journalists, especially in the United States.”
Fort, Crews and Lundy were released on bond and entered not guilty pleas, according to The Associated Press.
This is the latest legal action tied to protests in the Twin Cities, where tensions remain over the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
According to the lawsuit, the demonstrators engaged in “coordinated conduct” by organizing meetings ahead of the “Operation Pullup” protest and promoting it on social media.
The lawsuit alleges that on the morning of Jan. 18, a coordinated group of individuals entered Cities Church, halting the worship service, and chanting “‘ICE Out!’ and ‘Hands Up, Don’t Shoot!’” while obstructing aisles. Protesters could allegedly be seen “confronting the pastor and congregants in a menacing manner,” the lawsuit says, noting that their chanting and “aggressive gestures” caused “severe emotional distress, fear, anxiety, and trauma” and caused children “terror.”
Demonstrators gathered at the church because they said its pastor, David Easterwood, was the acting director of an ICE field office in the city, the lawsuit says.
Lemon was arrested in January in California and accused of violating federal civil rights law after covering the protest on Jan. 18. He was released on a personal recognizance bond before a federal grand jury in Minnesota returned the indictment against Lemon and eight co-defendants, all of whom are also named in Doucette’s lawsuit.
In the lawsuit, Doucette alleges that Lemon specifically livestreamed the protest, “noting congregants’ fear and distress, and appeared to take satisfaction in the disruption.”
Levy Armstrong, a Minneapolis-based civil rights attorney and activist, was also arrested for her participation in the St. Paul protest. Her arrest drew national attention after the White House shared on social media doctored photos where she appeared to be crying.
Minnesota
Man arrested, charged with threatening to kill a state senator
A Hubbard County man was arrested and charged after threatening to kill a Minnesota state senator on Facebook.
Court documents filed on Wednesday state the Minnesota State Patrol were investigating a threat posted by John Tobias saying that he would “kill every one of you treasonous [expletive] immediately” if he did not get money back that he claims he lost during the 2020 COVID shutdown.
Court documents go on to say that Tobias then called the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office asking for something to be done about “Minnesota Governor Tim Walz ‘unconstitutionally’ shutting down the state due to COVID-19.
The Minnesota State Patrol contacted Hubbard County deputies regarding Tobias. Court documents state Hubbard County investigators were already familiar with Tobais after speaking with him regarding similar threats he made in Jan.
The charging documents state that investigators searched Tobias’ residence on Tuesday and found an arsenal of guns and 45 boxes of ammunition.
Tobias was taken into custody. During an interview with law enforcement, Tobias admitted to making the threat on Facebook. He also told investigators that “he did not have any intention of killing anyone, but admitted he was trying to get people’s attention,” according to court records.
In late 2025, Lt. Col. Jeremy Geiger of the Minnesota State Patrol, who oversees Capitol security, told a panel of lawmakers that threats to lawmakers had doubled between 2024 and 2025.
Tobias made his first court appearance Wednesday morning and is expected back in court early next month.
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