Minnesota

University of Minnesota pro-Palestine encampment cleared, agreement reached

Published

2 years ago

May 2, 2024

University of Minnesota pro-Palestine encampment cleared, agreement reached

MINNEAPOLIS — Thursday, pro-Palestine supporters agreed to remove their four-day long encampment at the University of Minnesota following an agreement made with school leadership.

Encampments on college campuses across the country have popped up in response to the civilian death toll in Gaza in response to the Israel-Hamas War and students calling for universities to divest from Israel. The university joins a growing list of schools that have made deals with protestors, including Northwestern University and Brown University.

See our map: From Harvard to UT Austin to USC, college protests over Gaza are spreading.

One of the number of student groups involved in organizing the encampment posted on Instagram Thursday that Northrop Mall, where protestors occupied with dozens of tents, would be cleared by noon.

On Wednesday, organizers met with school officials to discuss their demands and interim University President Jeff Ettinger wrote in a letter to organizers they would agree to the following on the condition there are no more encampments.

Allow the organizing coalition to address the Board of Regents on May 10 concerning their demand for the university to divest from Israel

More: Pro-Palestinian protesters urge universities to divest from Israel. What does that mean?

Facilitate conversations with the career services department in response to the coalition’s demand to ban companies that do business with Israel from attending campus events and partaking in job fairs
Provide additional details on university disclosures during an upcoming meeting between leadership and the coalition
Recommend the University of Minnesota Police Department not arrest or press charges against anyone on a criminal offense as a result of the demonstrations of the last few days if the encampment is removed without issues

Ettinger said in a letter addressed to the university community that “while there is more work to do, and conversations are still planned with other student groups affected by the painful situation in Palestine, I am heartened by today’s progress.”

“It grew out of a desire among those involved to reach shared understanding. While we do not condone tactics that are outside of our policies, we appreciate student leaders’ willingness to engage in dialogue,” Ettinger said in the letter.

Nine were arrested last week for trespassing after setting up tents on campus grounds without permission, but since have seen a minimal police presence despite several dispersal orders, according to protestors.

More: Police sweep onto UCLA campus, remove pro-Palestinian encampment: Live updates

What’s happening on other campuses?

Columbia University has been the heart of the protests as violence has erupted across the country. Since Tuesday, over 300 arrests have been made at the university and City College.

Encampments and protests at the University of Southern California and the University of California, Los Angeles have also turned violent and been met with police force, counter-protestors and dispersal orders. On Wednesday, over 132 arrests were made at UCLA.

More: President Biden breaks silence on college protests: ‘Violence is not protected’

Demonstrators at the University of Wisconsin Madison were confronted by police and 34 people were arrested on Wednesday as well. The encampment remained Thursday.

All buildings previously closed due to the encampment will reopen on Thursday at noon, according to a statement from the university. The university had their last day of classes on Monday, with final exams to start Thursday.

— Sam Woodward is the Minnesota elections reporting fellow for USA Today. You can reach her at swoodward@gannett.com.

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Minnesota

New strain of COVID detected in 25 states including Minnesota

Published

9 hours ago

April 10, 2026

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New strain of COVID detected in 25 states including Minnesota

(St. Paul, MN) — State health officials are keeping an eye on a highly mutated new COVID variant called B-A 3-dot-2, or “cicada.” Minnesota Department of Health Epidemiologist Keeley Morris says, “With that many mutations it’s likely going to be pretty good at evading any immunity that people have from being vaccinated or also from prior COVID-19 infections.” She says the good news is that B-A 3-dot-2 doesn’t seem to be causing more severe illness. The C-D-C says the “cicada” variant has been detected in at least 25 states. Morris says Minnesota has detected three cases of either B-A 3-dot-2 or some of its descendants, and we also had one site that had a positive wastewater detection.

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Minnesota

Community members show up to support Mercado Central, businesses hit hard by ICE surge

Published

21 hours ago

April 9, 2026

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Community members show up to support Mercado Central, businesses hit hard by ICE surge

Mercado Central on Lake Street in Minneapolis has been more than a marketplace; it’s a heartbeat, a place filled with food, culture and community. During Operation Metro Surge, that heartbeat slowed.

“We’re a co-op. We’re all business owners that just need support from our community,” Ajeleth Moreno with El Rincon Pupuseria said.

Many regular customers stopped coming and the change was impossible to ignore.

“Our regulars would not be here at all in the beginning months, but we did get really good support for the community,” Joscan Moreno said.

That community is showing up with purpose.

“I think it’s important to set an example and to show other community members that we are still here. We still need to be showing up and there’s so many beautiful examples of resilience out here today,” Rose Gomez said.

Through a wave of community support, online donations, to simply having people walk into their doors again.

“These places are few and far between, I don’t know if I know of any place exactly like this,” Simon Fitzkappes said. “And for our community to lose such a great spot, it’s really detrimental. We all hope that doesn’t happen.”

Because here, the business owners and diners alike say every visit and dollar matters.

“We’ve never got this many people here,” Ajeleth Moreno said. “We just hope it stays that way because we don’t want to be forgotten again.”

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Minnesota

Minnesota fraud scandal: Sixth family member who met with AG Ellison set to plead guilty

Published

1 day ago

April 9, 2026

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Minnesota fraud scandal: Sixth family member who met with AG Ellison set to plead guilty

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Yet another member of a family within Minnesota’s Somali community is expected to plead guilty Thursday in the massive fraud scandal that has drawn national attention and prompted criticism of Attorney General Keith Ellison over a meeting he held with members of the family in question.

Gandi Mohamed, 45, is expected to either plead guilty at a change of plea hearing scheduled for Thursday or choose to enter a plea of no contest, which would allow him to accept conviction and be sentenced without admitting guilt, according to court records.

Mohamed is the sixth member of his family who would be pleading guilty in the scheme prosecutors say fraudulently claimed to be serving meals while instead pocketing $14 million from the federal child nutrition program, Fox 9 Minneapolis reported.

Center of the American Experiment policy fellow Bill Glahn told Fox News Digital that “it’s good that he and his co-conspirators have all been convicted in the case, however, a courtroom trial would have been a useful exercise to show the public the scope and scale of the fraud.”

TOM EMMER CALLS FOR TIM WALZ, KEITH ELLISON TO ‘SERVE JAIL TIME’ IF FRAUD COVERUP ALLEGATIONS ARE TRUE

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and AG Keith Ellison will testify before Congress on March 4. (Mandel Ngan/AFP; Jerry Holt/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

The Mohamed family was present at the now infamous 2021 meeting between Ellison and members of the Somali community where would-be fraudsters could be heard asking the state’s attorney general to help them secure more funding, before the conversation turned to campaign donations.

“The only way that we can protect what we have is by inserting ourselves into the political arena. Putting our votes where it needs to be. But most importantly, putting our dollars in the right place. And supporting candidates that will fight to protect our interests,” one of the Somali community members says in the recording.

“That’s right,” Ellison responds.

JOSH HAWLEY STANDS BY ACCUSATIONS AFTER FIERY SENATE HEARING CLASH WITH MINNESOTA AG ELLISON

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz testifies during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing in the U.S. Capitol Building on March 4, 2026, in Washington, D.C. The committee held the hearing to examine the alleged misuse of federal funds intended for Minnesota social services and Medicaid programs. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Ellison has denied any wrongdoing regarding the recording, saying he was completely unaware of the fraudsters’ crimes at the time of the meeting. The meeting occurred before any convictions in the case and before President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice had indicted anyone.

“I took a meeting in good faith with people I didn’t know and some turned out to have done bad things. I did nothing for them and took nothing from them,” Ellison wrote in an April 2025 op-ed for the Minnesota Star Tribune.

Following that meeting, Gandi gave the maximum $2,500 campaign donation to Ellison that the attorney general returned to the Department of Justice in 2025.

TRUMP ADMIN SCORES MINNESOTA COURT WIN IN MEDICAID FRAUD CRACKDOWN

“Our Attorney General, Keith Ellison, is not only looking the other way but doing so after taking donations from these very fraudsters,” Republican Dalia al-Aqidi who is running for Congress in Minneapolis against Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., told Fox News Digital. “This is a betrayal of every Minnesotan who trusted him with that office.”

Al-Aqidi explained that the voters in her district are “furious” about the fraud scandal.

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“Which is why I’ve rolled out a five-point plan to prevent fraud before it starts,” al-Aqidi said. “This isn’t just about taxpayers, it’s about people who really need food and housing. Preventing fraud isn’t complicated, it just takes the political will to stop this type of abuse. It’s clear that this scheme is being used to buy votes, and that has to stop.”

Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom and Alexis McAdams contributed to this report.

Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to AndrewMark.Miller@Fox.com.

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