Prosecutors charged a 23-year-old St. Paul man Monday in connection to the attempted theft of a sign at a Highland Park home.

The homeowner reported the incident after he saw other residents had reported vandalism of pride flags in the Highland Park and Macalester-Groveland neighborhoods. There were 37 instances of damage, mostly to rainbow flags, and also some cases of other vandalism, including to the new Minnesota state flag, between June 6 and 26, according to police.

The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office charged George Thomas Floyd with felony possession of burglary or theft tools, saying he had a knife “with intent to use” it to commit burglary or theft.

Police said Monday the investigation into the pride flag vandalism is ongoing, including into whether Floyd is a suspect. The county attorney’s office received another case from police involving Floyd for charging consideration; he had not been charged with other offenses as of Monday afternoon.

George Thomas Floyd (Courtesy of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)

Charge: Used knife to ‘manipulate’ storm door hinges

The homeowner on Pinehurst Avenue near Cleveland Avenue had a Ring doorbell and it showed that, in the middle of the night on June 6, a man went to his home wearing a blue baseball cap, a green bandana over the lower part of his face, a dark T-shirt, distinctive shoes and blue jeans.

He later noted the man who tried to steal his sign, which said, “We will not obey,” wore a knife holster on his waist similar to security footage that showed a man damaging the rainbow flags, said a criminal complaint.

The suspect tried to open a locked storm door at the home and pulled out a large fixed-blade knife and “used it to manipulate the hinges on the storm door,” the complaint said. The homeowner had the sign in the exterior part of his inner door.

The homeowner got on the Ring intercom, asked the man what he was doing, and the man then left his stoop.

Police encountered a man, identified as Floyd, during a traffic stop on Wednesday. “Officers later noted Floyd wore a necklace and black T-shirt like that of the man” on the homeowner’s stoop. He also has “a large mole or freckle just below the elbow crease on his left arm just like the man” on the Ring video, the complaint said.

On Thursday, police carried out a search warrant at Floyd’s Highland Park residence on Pinehurst Avenue near Fairview Avenue, about three blocks from the homeowner’s residence. Officers found the baseball cap, green bandana, distinct shoes, black shirt and fixed-blade knife that prosecutors say he used on June 6.

Police took Floyd into custody and he declined to talk to them.

Floyd is due to make his first court appearance on Tuesday; an attorney wasn’t listed for him in the court file as of Monday afternoon.

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St. Paul Parks and Rec is hosting a free “Yappy Hour” for dogs and their people 4-6 p.m. Wednesday at its newest dog park downtown.

The city last month fenced in a modest off-leash dog park at Kellogg Mall Park. Parks and Rec public service manager Clare Cloyd said residents for years have asked the department to carve out a space for dogs.

“Yappy Hour is our way of promoting the new dog park, which is there for residents and visitors,” she said.

The event offers free nail trimming by Howliday Pet Spa. For humans, there will be music by Will Effertz, food by Cheeky Chicks Food Truck and games such as table tennis and cornhole.

Yappy Hour is part of the parks department’s “Kick it at Kellogg Mall Park” promotional series.

Activities planned through August include free coffee, food trucks, kids story time, yoga and concerts. For more information, visit kelloggmallpark.com.

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By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN and BEN FINLEY

GREENBELT, Md. (AP) — The U.S. government would initiate deportation proceedings against Kilmar Abrego Garcia if he’s released from jail before he stands trial on human smuggling charges in Tennessee, a Justice Department attorney told a federal judge in Maryland on Monday.

The disclosure by U.S. lawyer Jonathan Guynn contradicts statements by spokespeople for the Justice Department and the White House, who said last month that Abrego Garcia would stand trial and possibly spend time in an American prison before the government moves to deport him.

Guynn made the revelation during a federal court hearing in Maryland, where Abrego Garcia’s lawyers have expressed concerns that he would be denied due process once more by the Trump administration before it likely tries to expel him again from the U.S.

Guynn said that U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement would detain Abrego Garcia once he’s released from jail in Tennessee and send him to a “third country” that isn’t his native El Salvador. However, Guynn said he didn’t know which country that would be.

Abrego Garcia became a flashpoint over President Donald Trump’s immigration policies when he was deported in March to a notorious megaprison in his native El Salvador. The Trump administration violated a U.S. immigration judge’s order in 2019 that shielded Abrego Garcia from deportation to El Salvador because he likely faced persecution there by local gangs that terrorized his family.

Facing increasing pressure and a Supreme Court order, the Trump administration returned Abrego Garcia to the United States last month to face federal human smuggling charges. Abrego Garcia’s attorneys have characterized the case as “preposterous” and an attempt to justify his erroneous deportation.

A federal judge in Nashville was preparing to release Abrego Garcia to await trial. But she agreed last week to keep Abrego Garcia behind bars at the request of his own attorneys. They had raised concerns the U.S. would try to immediately deport him, while citing what they say were “contradictory statements” by the Trump administration.

For example, Guynn had told U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland on June 26 that the U.S. government planned to deport Abrego Garcia to a “third country” that isn’t El Salvador. But he said there was no timeline for the deportation plans.

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Later that day, DOJ spokesperson Chad Gilmartin told The Associated Press that the Justice Department intends to try Abrego Garcia on the smuggling charges before it moves to deport him.

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson posted on X that day that Abrego Garcia “will face the full force of the American justice system — including serving time in American prison for the crimes he’s committed.”

Abrego Garcia’s attorneys have asked Xinis to order the government to take Abrego Garcia to Maryland upon release from jail in Tennessee, an arrangement that would prevent his deportation before trial. Abrego Garcia lived in Maryland outside of Washington for more than a decade, working construction and raising a family with his American wife.

Xinis is still considering his lawyers’ request to send him to Maryland if he’s released. Meanwhile, Xinis ruled Monday that the lawsuit against the Trump administration over Abrego Garcia’s mistaken deportation can continue.

Finley reported from Norfolk, Virginia.

By TARA COPP and DAMIAN DOVARGANES

LOS ANGELES (AP) — About 90 members of the California National Guard and over a dozen military vehicles like Humvees are helping protect immigration officers Monday as they carry out a raid in a Los Angeles park, defense officials said.

The operation in MacArthur Park, which is in a neighborhood with a large immigrant population about 2 miles west of downtown LA, includes 17 Humvees, four tactical vehicles, two ambulances and the armed soldiers. It comes after President Donald Trump deployed thousands of Guard members and active duty Marines to the city last month following protests over previous immigration raids.

Trump has stepped up efforts to realize his campaign pledge of deporting millions of immigrants in the United States illegally and shown a willingness to use the nation’s military might in ways other U.S. presidents have typically avoided.

The officials told reporters that it was not a military operation but acknowledged that the size and scope of the Guard’s participation could make it look like one to the public. That is why the officials spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details about the raid that were not announced publicly.

“It’s just going to be more overt and larger than we usually participate in,” one of the officials said.

The primary role of the service members would be to protect the immigration enforcement officers in case a hostile crowd gathered, that official said. They are not participating in any law enforcement activities such as arrests, but service members can temporarily detain citizens if necessary before handing them over to law enforcement, the official said.

The operation is occurring at a park in a neighborhood with large Mexican, Central American and other immigrant populations and is lined by businesses with signs in Spanish and other languages that has been dubbed by local officials as the “Ellis Island of the West Coast.”

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Sprawling MacArthur Park has a murky lake ringed by palm trees, an amphitheater that hosts summer concerts and sports fields where immigrant families line up to play soccer in the evenings and on weekends. Authorities routinely clear encampments and medical outreach teams tend to unhoused residents.

The officials said the officers enforcing immigration laws were planning to wear a dark blue top to differentiate them from troops. The officers would still be wearing camouflage pants.

More than 4,000 California National Guard and hundreds of U.S. Marines have been deployed in Los Angeles since June — against the wishes of California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Last week, the military announced about 200 of those troops would be returned to their units to fight wildfires.

Copp reported from Washington.