A tornado watch has been issued for much of central Minnesota including the Twin Cities metro, according to the National Weather Service Twin Cities.

The watch, in effect until 9 p.m., is for the following Minnesota counties:

Aitkin, Anoka, Benton, Carlton, Carver, Cass, Chicago, Crow Wing, Dakota, Douglas, Grant, Hennepin, Hubbard, Isanti, Itaska, Kanabec, Kandiyohi, McCleod, Meeker, Mille Lakes, Morrison, Otter Tail, Pine, Pope, Ramsey, Scott, Sherburne, Stearns, Todd, Wadena, Washington and Wright counties.

A tornado warning was issued about 6:30 p.m. for east central McLeod County and northwestern Carver County.

According to the National Weather Service, a watch is implemented when there is a risk of hazardous weather but the probability, location or timing is uncertain. People should stay alert and listen for possible warnings particularly if they are traveling or being outside.

A warning is when the hazardous weather or event is occurring, imminent or likely and people need to take immediate protective action.

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St. Paul police Officer Michael Tschida was named officer of the year by the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association this weekend for his role in responding to a man with a gun threatening his ex-girlfriend in late 2023.

On Dec. 7, 2023, while on patrol in St. Paul’s Western District, Tschida responded alone to a domestic violence call involving an armed suspect who had rammed a woman’s vehicle and was threatening to kill her, according to the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s investigation of the incident.

The woman said that Brandon Keys, 24, had chased her on Interstate 94. She said he was the father of her child and she had an order of protection against him. She said he had assaulted her when they had been together and she was afraid of him and now he was outside her van near Cretin and Marshall avenues. He had broken her window and was ramming her van with his car.

“He’s going to kill me,” she told the 911 operator.

Her current boyfriend was in the passenger seat of her van. After Keys blocked the van with his vehicle, her boyfriend got out of the vehicle. Keys pointed a gun at the other man. He tried to distract Keys to get him away from the woman and then ran away because he feared for his life.

When Tschida arrived, Keys was standing near the driver’s side of the van. Tschida exited his squad car holding his firearm and ordered Keys to get on the ground three separate times, according to the investigation. Keys ducked behind his own vehicle, a Chevrolet Impala.

Tschida moved, seeking better protective cover and to avoid putting the woman in the line of fire. Seconds after Keys ducked down, he “suddenly popped up from behind the rear of the Impala holding a black handgun,” according to the summary about what video and audio indicated.

Keys rapidly fired three shots at Tschida, striking him in the ankle. Tschida returned fire and shot Keys, who was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Toxicology testing showed methamphetamine, amphetamine, fentanyl and methadone in Keys’ blood.

St. Paul police Officer Michael Tschida (Courtesy of the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association)

Tschida went to the hospital in a squad car and applied a tourniquet to his leg on the way. The bullet went through his ankle and exited out the other side.

“Ramsey County Attorney’s Office found Officer Tschida’s actions overwhelmingly justified,” the association said. “His response under fire demonstrated exceptional courage, sound judgment, and a steadfast commitment to protecting the public.”

“Officer Tschida’s bravery and composure in the face of imminent danger embody the highest standards of our profession. His heroic actions saved lives and deserves our deepest respect,” said Brian Peters, executive director of the organization.

Other awards

The following were named honorary officers and lawmakers of the year:

Minneapolis police officer Luke Kittock: On May 30, 2024, during the ambush of Officer Jamal Mitchell in Minneapolis, Kittock and his partner responded to the scene under active gunfire and extreme uncertainty. Despite being struck in the face by shrapnel, Kittock remained engaged, gathering information, helping locate and neutralize the shooter and protecting civilians.

Minneapolis Police Officer Ben Bauer: On September 6, 2024, Officer Ben Bauer responded to an active shooter incident in a South Minneapolis apartment building where an armed suspect with an AK-47-style rifle had barricaded himself and was firing at residents. Officer Bauer courageously evacuated residents, coordinated containment, and ultimately took decisive action to stop the shooter and secure the scene.

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Rep. Jeff Witte: Witte, R-Lakeville, was named 2025 House of Representatives Legislator of the Year. A retired Burnsville police officer, Witte was a driving force behind the bipartisan legislation clarifying school resource officer rules for use of force. He also championed funding for law enforcement training and authored legislation to name the Burnsville Parkway bridge in honor of the Burnsville officers and firefighter/paramedic killed in the line of duty.

Sen. Jeff Howe: Howe, R-Rockville, has been named 2025 Senate Legislator of the Year for his advocacy on behalf of law enforcement officers and first responders. A former firefighter and paramedic, Howe brings real-world experience and perspective to the Capitol, the association said.

The annual awards, based on “heroics, outstanding service or distinguished community involvement in service,” were presented Saturday at the association’s annual convention in Alexandria, Minnesota.

A judge delayed the trial of a Minnesota lawmaker accused of burglary in the wake of the assassination of a state representative and attempted assassination of a state senator.

Jury selection in the trial for Sen. Nicole Mitchell, accused of burglarizing her stepmother’s house in Detroit Lakes in 2024, was set to begin at 8:30 a.m. Monday. Instead, parties in the case had a virtual hearing Monday morning after Mitchell’s attorneys filed a motion to continue the trial at a later date.

In a motion filed Monday, the Woodbury Democrat’s attorneys, Dane DeKrey and Bruce Ringstrom Jr., asked for the trial to be delayed “out of reverence for Saturday’s unspeakable tragedy” and “to allow the partisan political temperature in Minnesota time to cool down.”

Early Saturday morning, former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were shot and killed in their Brooklyn Park home. Shortly before, state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were shot and injured at their home in Champlin.

The shootings kicked off a two-day manhunt for the suspect, 57-year-old Vance Boelter, which came to an end Sunday night. Boelter was found alive and taken into custody in rural Sibley County, southwest of the Twin Cities.

Nicole Mitchell (Courtesy of the Becker County Sheriff’s Office)

During Monday’s hearing, DeKrey said he did not think he had to get into the reasons for asking for a delay in the trial.

“We just believe it’s not a good week to try this case,” he said.

Becker County Attorney Brian McDonald, representing the state of Minnesota, said he briefed the family of the victim of the alleged burglary on the request to delay the trial. He also said the state does not oppose the delay.

Judge Michael Fritz granted the request, saying he thought the recency of the violence over the weekend would affect a fair trial. With the ongoing investigation, the court has concerns about security, he added.

The parties did not set a new date for the trial during the hearing.

Mitchell has been charged with two felony burglary counts: first-degree burglary and possession of burglary or theft tools. She pleaded not guilty to the burglary charge.

Mitchell told police officers she was retrieving items of a sentimental nature that belonged to her late father, included his cremated remains, court documents say.

Charges were brought against Mitchell during the 2024 legislative session. Mitchell was arrested in her stepmother’s house on April 22, 2024.

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DENVER — A federal jury in Colorado on Monday found that one of the nation’s most prominent election conspiracy theorists, MyPillow founder Mike Lindell, defamed a former employee for a leading voting equipment company after the 2020 presidential election.

The employee, Eric Coomer, sued after Lindell called him a traitor and accusations about him stealing the election were streamed on Lindell’s online media platform.

Coomer was the security and product strategy director at Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems, whose voting machines became the target of elaborate conspiracy theories among allies of President Donald Trump, who continues to falsely claim that his loss to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020 was due to widespread fraud.

Dominion won a $787 million settlement in a defamation lawsuit it filed against Fox News over its airing of false claims against the company and has another lawsuit against the conservative network Newsmax.

Newsmax apologized to Coomer in 2021 for airing false allegations against him.

Coomer said during the two-week Lindell trial that his career and life were destroyed by the statements. His lawyers said Lindell either knew the statements were lies, or conveyed them recklessly without knowing if they were true.

Lindell’s lawyers denied the claims and said his online platform, formerly known as Frankspeech, is not liable for statements made by others.

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Lindell said he went to trial to draw attention to the need to get rid of electronic voting machines that have been targeted in a web of conspiracy theories. He said he used to be worth about $60 million before he started speaking out about the 2020 election and is now $10 million in debt.

Reviews, recounts and audits in the battleground states where Trump contested his loss in 2020 all affirmed Democrat Joe Biden’s victory. Trump’s attorney general at the time said there was no evidence of widespread fraud, and Trump and his allies lost dozens of court cases seeking to overturn the result.

Lindell stuck by his false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen during the trial, but did not call any experts to present evidence of his claims.

Lindell said his beliefs that the 2020 election was tainted by fraud were influenced by watching the 2020 HBO documentary “Kill Chain” and by the views of Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn. In an interview for a documentary Lindell made in 2021, Flynn said foreign interference was going to happen in U.S. elections, and Lindell said he had no reason to doubt the claim since Flynn had worked for both political parties in intelligence.

Lindell distanced himself from an account by a Colorado podcaster who claimed to have heard a conference call from the anti-fascist group Antifa before the 2020 election. The podcast claimed that on the call someone named Eric from Dominion said he would make sure that Trump would not win, a story that was recounted on Frankspeech during a 2021 event. Lindell said he only learned about that during the trial.

Lindell said he never accused Coomer of rigging the election, but he did say he was upset because he said Newsmax blocked him from being able to go on air to talk about voting machines after it apologized to Coomer. Coomer denied there was any such deal to block Lindell under his agreement with the network.

Coomer’s lawyers tried to show how their client’s life was devastated by the conspiracy theories spreading about him. Lindell was comparatively late to seize on Coomer, not mentioning him until February 2021, well after his name had been circulated by other Trump partisans.

Coomer said the conspiracy theories cost him his job, his mental health and the life he’d built and said Lindell’s statements were the most distressing of all. He specifically pointed to a statement on May 9, 2021, when Lindell described what he believed Coomer had done as “treason.”

Lindell’s attorneys argued that Coomer’s reputation was already in tatters by the time Lindell mentioned him. They said that was partly because of Coomer’s own Facebook posts disparaging Trump, which the former Dominion employee acknowledged were “hyperbolic” and had been a mistake.