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Pearl Harbor attack gun may leave Minnesota Capitol grounds for new museum home

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Pearl Harbor attack gun may leave Minnesota Capitol grounds for new museum home


For 66 years on the Minnesota Capitol grounds, a 50-caliber gun with a barrel mouth 4 inches wide has served as a reminder of the distant Pearl Harbor attack on Dec. 7, 1941 that drew the United States into World War II.

Minnesota’s connection to that event in history is that a St. Paul-based reservist crew helped man the gun on the USS Ward destroyer that day. They’re credited with firing the first shots in defense of Pearl Harbor, sinking a Japanese midget submarine.

The gun, which sits on the south end of the Capitol Mall near the Veterans Service Building, was installed as part of Minnesota’s centennial celebration. It includes a stone monument added in 2007 listing the names of those Minnesota sailors, the last of whom died in 2015.

Now, the naval artillery could be on the move again.

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A relocation petition that gets its initial airing on Dec. 19 seeks to transfer the USS Ward Gun Number Three to an under-construction military museum near Little Falls and Camp Ripley, the Minnesota National Guard training facility.

There, petitioners say, it would fit in with other military artifacts and get the care and preservation it deserves.

Navy photo of USS Ward’s number three gun and its crew. They were Minnesota reservists, credited with firing the first shot in defense of Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941. The gun, displayed for decades on the Minnesota Capitol grounds, may move to a new museum near Little Falls, Minn.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command

“This new facility, dedicated to veterans of all service branches, will be a more appropriate location for this military artifact,” Randal Dietrich, executive director of the Minnesota Military & Veterans Museum, wrote in an application to the Capitol Area Architectural and Planning Board. 

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The museum isn’t slated to open on its new site outside Camp Ripley until 2026. The public review and comment period about the USS Ward gun relocation is part of an extensive process.

The surprise attack on the U.S. Navy’s Hawaii base at Pearl Harbor 83 years ago killed more than 2,400 service members and civilians and more were wounded. About two dozen people from Minnesota were killed or wounded.

Competing interests for Gun Number Three

Capitol planning board officials wrote in a memo this fall that there are competing interests that need to be sorted through. They acknowledged that the gun has fallen into disrepair. Peeling paint over the steel armament shows the rust forming underneath and other wear caused by exposure to the elements. 

The Capitol architectural board has been upfront that it has no current plans or funding dedicated to future maintenance and cautions that “will inevitably result in continued degradation.”

But public access is also a consideration.

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“In addition to information related to the history of the gun, its ownership and its siting here at the Capitol, CAAPB staff is aware of the particular importance of the gun to veterans groups and veterans families based in St. Paul, the long process of establishing the gun in its site on the Capitol Mall, and the process of maintaining the gun over the years,” the memo written in September says.

The USS Ward Gun

The USS Ward Gun Number Three which was manned by St. Paul reservists on a Navy warship during the Dec. 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor attack, now sits on the state Capitol Mall, showing visible rust and wear. An effort to move the monument is the subject of a public hearing on Dec. 19.

Kerem Yücel | MPR News

The warship gun technically doesn’t belong to the state. Since 1958, the USS Ward Gun Number Three has been on loan from the U.S. Navy under an agreement that the state properly maintains it.

In May 2024, state lawmakers approved $275,000 in outdoor and legacy heritage funding for relocation and restoration of the USS Ward gun display. Additional legislation could be discussed in 2025 to help financially support the transfer, museum leaders have said.

The Navy League of the United States, Minnesota Council backs the effort to move the monument to an indoor location at the new museum.

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Then-council president William James III wrote to Capitol planning officials in June 2022 to say a move “will preserve this important part of Minnesota’s Naval history.”

Plans currently call for the artifact to be the centerpiece of a World War II exhibit where “visitors will be immersed in the sights and sounds” of what sailors went through as Pearl Harbor was under siege in 1941, Dietrich’s application says.

The Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs also supports relocation. Commissioner Bradley Lindsay wrote in a January letter to an admiral in the Naval History and Heritage Command that he was eager to see a new chapter for the artifact at the 40,000-square foot military museum.

Lindsay asked that the loan agreement be therefore modified to allow its transfer.

“The prominent placement it will enjoy at the heart of the WWII Exhibition Gallery is befitting  of the service of the Minnesota Naval Reservists who made history the morning of December 7, 1941,” Lindsay wrote. 

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If the move is ultimately made, it would be up to state Capitol grounds planners to decide what happens with the empty spot. One possibility on the table is to simply seed it with grass.



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Shorthanded Clippers can’t keep pace with Anthony Edwards and Minnesota

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Church congregant filed lawsuit against alleged Minnesota church protesters

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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.”

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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.

Don Lemon reporting from an anti-ICE demonstration at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minn.@TheDonLemonShow via YouTube

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.

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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.

Nekima Levy Armstrong, Cities Church protest arraignment, St. Paul, Minn., February 2026
Nekima Levy Armstrong in St. Paul, Minn., on Feb. 13.Carlos Gonzalez / Star Tribune via Getty Images

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.

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Man arrested, charged with threatening to kill a state senator

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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. 

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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. 

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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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