Free Republic

Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan (D) is narrowly leading her Republican opponent, former NFL sideline reporter Michele Tafoya, in a new poll in the state’s U.S. Senate race. The InsiderAdvantage survey found that 46 percent of likely voters in the state supported Flanagan, while Tafoya garnered 45 percent support. Matt Towery, a pollster with InsiderAdvantage, called the survey results “unusual” for a race in a blue-leaning state, noting outgoing Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s (D) waning approval ratings and a widespread fraud scandal in the state as possible contributing factors to this close race. “Tafoya does extremely well with men and...

If it seems that the lights are going out more frequently in the Xcel Energy service area, it isn’t your imagination: Outages in 2026 are running above historic averages, according to a Colorado Public Utilities Commission analysis. “In every single month of 2024, 2025 and the first half of 2026, customers have experienced an above-average number of outages,” Nick Bongiardina, a PUC staffer, told the commission during a Sept. 23 review of outages. “This really reflects what customers are expressing they are experiencing.” After a wave of customer complaints in 2024 with 90,000 customers experiencing a 10-year record of six...

State officials said the incidents caused no harm to water quality or public safety.. Foreign actors gained access to computer systems at two small private water utilities in Colorado in late August, changing equipment controls before operators restored normal operations, according to the governor’s office. Ally Sullivan, a spokeswoman for Gov. Jared Polis, said the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment followed up with the providers to confirm the issues had been resolved. The governor’s office said it was unable to confirm which foreign actors and did not identify the utilities. “The two water utilities impacted are small, private...

A Dakota County city of nearly 80,000 residents is set to welcome its second mosque in less than a year. The Al Hadi Association, an independent nonprofit Islamic organization, was given the green light Monday night by the Lakeville City Council to build a permanent place of worship, known as Al-Hadi Masjid. The city council approved a conditional use permit to allow a religious institution to be built at 17732 Junelle Path in Lakeville, which is zoned as a single family residential district. non-controversial and passed with a single block vote. “Our community is delighted,” Muhammad Shabaz, secretary of the...

The First Amendment protects both freedom of speech and freedom of assembly, but those rights do not give activists carte blanche to invade a church and take over the service. Or so I thought. Now, however, a group of activists who did just that has filed a motion to dismiss federal civil rights charges, arguing that its conduct amounted to “pure speech and assembly” protected by the First Amendment. According to the motion, “The Constitution does not contain any exception to free speech in churches.” Such a statement might make sense if the agitators faced charges related to free speech,...

Minneapolis shooting At least 2 officers injured, launching a massive local and state law enforcement response.

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer is turning up the pressure on the U.S. Senate, demanding to know why legislation requiring proof of citizenship and voter identification remains stalled despite what he described as overwhelming public support. Appearing on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” Emmer argued that the Republican-controlled House has repeatedly done its job by passing major pieces of the GOP agenda — only to watch them languish in the Senate. “The House has been working,” Emmer said. “We’ve been getting our stuff over to the Senate. The Senate’s got to start to perform.” Among the legislation Emmer singled out...

Police in Minneapolis reportedly raided the apartment of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar's son and seized firearms before arresting his roommate. Law enforcement sources told Alpha News that a search warrant was carried out at the home of Omar's son Adnan on Tuesday night. According to the outlet, they recovered guns and ammunition from the home and arrested his roommate Abdulrahman Abdi, 22. Earlier that day, the city's police department said in a statement to the Daily Mail that they conducted a traffic stop and cited Abdi for no proof of insurance and no license. The department said that Abdi was released...

Police in Minneapolis reportedly raided the apartment of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar's son and seized firearms before arresting his roommate. Law enforcement sources told Alpha News that a search warrant was carried out at the home of Omar's son Adnan on Tuesday night. According to the outlet, they recovered guns and ammunition from the home and arrested his roommate Abdulrahman Abdi, 22. Earlier that day, the city's police department said in a statement to the Daily Mail that they conducted a traffic stop and cited Abdi for no proof of insurance and no license. The department said that Abdi was released...

President Donald Trump on Sunday night appeared to confirm that federal immigration authorities have active or contemplated enforcement proceedings against radical “Squad” Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota over long-standing allegations of immigration fraud. Trump shared a bombshell report from Just the News revealing that Immigration and Customs Enforcement refused to release records concerning its investigation into the Minnesota Democrat. ICE claimed that disclosing the records could interfere with “enforcement proceedings.” Trump posted the report to Truth Social Sunday evening without adding further commentary.

Far-right instigator and pardoned Jan. 6 insurrectionist Jake Lang was arrested Saturday, according to the Minneapolis Police Department. According to police, Lang held a protest around noon in front of Minneapolis City Hall when he and two others, in two cars, unexpectedly drove onto the sidewalk and toward a crowd of counter-protesters. "MPD had been aware of this demonstration for several weeks and developed a robust incident action in preparation for it," said Bill Peterson, the Interim Chief for the Minneapolis Police Department during a Saturday afternoon press conference. "That plan included putting on duty significant numbers of personnel, working...

I haven't seen such a recklessly steered case since the McMartin family was sent to prison based on emotion and politics instead of logic, reason, and evidence. And now, finally, a Minnesota judge will mete out a little justice in the case of Derek Chauvin, the cop who is alleged to have purposely killed George Floyd. Former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin says that the charges against him were "illegal" and that his trial was a "fraud." The now-imprisoned cop and his lawyer are calling for the verdict to be thrown out because of civil rights violations so severe that...

President Trump loves flexing his political muscle, especially in Republican primaries. When businessman and TV personality Mike Lindell secured Trump’s endorsement in the Minnesota governor’s race, he thought the nomination was his. Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth had other plans, winning a crushing victory over Lindell. If Demuth plays her cards right, she may just have a chance of becoming governor. Going into primary day, there were reasons to believe Mike Lindell had the advantage over Lisa Demuth. For starters, many polls showed Lindell ahead. The more glaring advantage was that Lindell received the critical endorsement from President Trump. With...

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison wants Texas to hand over the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer accused of shooting an illegal immigrant in Minneapolis earlier this year — then lying about the circumstances of the confrontation. Ellison filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in a bid to compel the Lone Star State to turn over the agent, Christian Castro, to Minnesota authorities. “Christian Castro has been charged with breaking the law in Minnesota,” Ellison told reporters Tuesday. “He must face justice in Minnesota. Gov. Abbott should have granted [Minnesota] Gov. [Tim] Walz’s extradition request long...

Hennepin County prosecutors on Monday morning elaborated on charges filed against four people last week, including former Anoka County Assistant Attorney Andrea Sampson, for allegedly running a "sprawling" sex trafficking scheme over the course of several years. The four were charged with 13 counts each of promoting prostitution of an individual and receiving profits from prostitution. Prosecutors allege 57-year-old Frank Reeves ran the operation with the assistance of Sampson, Viktoriya Komonash, 30, and Katherine Thomes, 36. The group recruited women and posted commercial sex advertisements on a website they owned, then collected money from the victims posted online, prosecutors say....

ANOKA CO., Minn. (FOX 9) - A Minnesota prostitution investigation uncovered the alleged involvement of former Anoka County Assistant Attorney Andrea Sampson, who is accused of maintaining fake companies to hide the profits of a sex trafficking operation. The criminal complaint also names Frank Devone Reeves, described by victims as a "pimp," Viktoriya Sergeyevna Komonash, who victims called a "house mom" and Katherine Michelle Thomes, who investigators say owned and operated the online commercial sex website "Minnesota Erotica Personals." Investigators say Sampson, along with Komonash and Thomes, believed they were in a romantic or sexual relationship with Reeves as they...

Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon is speaking out about what he calls “outrageous” misconduct at Minneapolis polling sites after a conservative political commenter tried to impersonate Minnesota voters. In the video, Cam Higby, a member of the “Justice League,” is dressed in a burqa and using an accent to try to vouch for others. Higby says he was highlighting the state’s vouching laws. He alleges poll workers would let him vote under a random name; the video shows Higby leaving a polling place after being told he needed to sign an oath. The video also shows a worker explaining...

The federal government is refusing to turn over records related to an investigation conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement into allegations of immigration fraud by Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., citing a legal exemption for ongoing investigations. Just the News filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the records in January, seeking the records pertaining to any investigations conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement into the allegations that Rep. Omar, who represents Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District, married a relative in order to help him remain in the country. Omar has denied the allegations. No court records, DNA evidence, or...

Minnesota state House Speaker Lisa Demuth won the Republican primary for governor, NBC News projects, defeating Trump ally Mike Lindell and setting up a general election matchup against Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar. Demuth’s victory was an upset over Lindell, the MyPillow founder and election conspiracy theorist. Lindell had been leading in limited public polling heading into Election Day, and President Donald Trump endorsed him. But attacks on Lindell from fellow Republicans — including questions about his residency raised by the chairman of the Minnesota Republican Party — hampered his campaign in the final weeks before the primary, as members of...

The director of African American Affairs at Minnesota State University (MSU), Mankato is no longer employed by the university after a federal jury convicted him of a tax fraud scheme prosecutors said generated approximately $387,000 in fraudulent tax refunds. Cortez Hollis worked in the university’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) division, where he led the African American Affairs office. A federal jury found Hollis guilty in June on 20 counts of aiding or assisting in the preparation of false tax returns, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Hollis owned and...