DULUTH, Minn. — Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party leaders and endorsed candidates largely voiced the same script at their state convention Saturday, promoting DFL legislative action in Minnesota, singing the praises of President Joe Biden and condemning former President Donald Trump.

However, a vocal minority of progressive delegates have taken issue with the DFL and Democrats in general over the party’s support of Israel in the war in Gaza.

“We want to know why we have any money for bombs when there’s Minnesotans going hungry, sleeping out on the streets and lacking adequate health care,” said Jerod Martinson, a DFL delegate.

Martinson was seen outside the DFL convention holding a sign that read “Guilty of Gendemocide,” — the word mixes genocide and Democrat. Martinson and other protesters believe Democrats are aiding in the deaths of Palestinians.

“The war in Gaza is just the latest and one of the worst examples of our over-militarism and it’s just destroying us,” he said, adding that he is an Army veteran who served in Iraq during the war’s early years.

Protest over Gaza

Several dozen protesters joined party delegates outside of the Duluth Convention Center on Saturday.

They called for a cease-fire and the U.S. divestment from Israel due to the country’s failure to adhere to international norms in warfare.

One of the resolutions, which would make it party policy to call the denial of Israel’s right to exist as a country antisemitic, was met with resistance from seven Jewish delegates.

The delegates, in a statement, said the resolution ignores Jewish disagreement with Zionism, which calls to sustain a “Jewish state” within the historical lands of Palestine.

“On a personal note, as Jewish dissenters of Zionism we would find it quite distressing to have our own political party declare us to be anti-Semitic,” the delegates wrote.

Other resolutions Saturday related to Israel and Palestine included calls for a cease-fire and humanitarian aid, making civilian safety a priority, releasing political prisoners and funding U.N. efforts to aid Palestinian refugees.

Divide may hurt Democrats

This divide could prove challenging for Biden and Democrats as progressive members take on the party establishment.

A national movement to vote uncommitted during Democratic state primaries for president had a decently strong showing in Minnesota with about 19% of voters choosing “uncommitted.” The latest polls show both Trump and Biden in a dead heat.

“We need to be more assertive on our viewpoints on Gaza and what is happening there,” said DFL delegate Wayne Pulford, citing the destruction of Palestinian hospitals and schools and the number of lives lost.

“I think we just need to keep up pressure on the Democratic Party to push back on what’s happening,” Pulford said. “(Israel) can fight a just war. They’re just not doing it right now.”

Delegates were slated to debate 113 resolutions and their amendments on Saturday but as of 8 p.m., they had yet to start debate on most of them. Delegates will continue the debates into Saturday night or may pick up the issues on Sunday, the last day of the convention.

Campaign continues

Also Saturday, DFL leaders and politicians continued to boast about the party’s successes in Minnesota while condemning the MAGA movement.

House Speaker Melissa Hortman (Courtesty photo)

Minnesota Speaker of the House Melissa Hortman touted the party’s legislative victories. The DFL currently has a trifecta in state government, controlling the governor’s office and both legislative chambers. The party has passed several large bills, including paid family leave and a program to provide free food to schoolchildren.

Other legislative wins for the party include measures on abortion rights, guns control, increased education funding and health care reform.

“We did not come to play,” Hortman said Saturday.

Trump’s recent conviction has also given Democrats a talking point for this election season. The former president was recently convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to hush money payments to a woman before the 2016 election.

Most of the speakers Saturday morning, which included Gov. Tim Walz, either called Trump a felon or brought up his legal woes. Walz, serving as a hypeman for the party, told delegates that he was proud to be part of a party with diverse beliefs.

Gov. Tim Walz. (Ben Hovland / MPR News)

Jen Schultz, the DFL-endorsed candidate for Congressional District 8 covering northeastern Minnesota, also targeted her opponent, Republican Rep. Pete Stauber, on Saturday.

Schultz, who served in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2015 to 2022, drew contrasts between her and Stauber.

“Stauber is part of the extremists, chaos caucus,“ she said.

Mining issues

As expected, the issue of copper-sulfide mining drew both advocates for the practice and those who oppose it, which often pitted DFL union members and the party’s environmental wing at odds.

The debate revolved around the “Prove it First” legislation, which has failed to be heard in the state’s Legislature for about a decade. The bill would require mining companies to prove their mining plans are safe and in line with state and federal environmental protections.

“It pains me to see the issue of mining in Minnesota continue to divide the party,” delegate Jeremy Johnson said to convention goers, adding mining brings thousands of jobs to Minnesota.

Several of those opposed to the legislation told their fellow delegates that mining has already proven to be safe and the law would outsource jobs to foreign countries that rely on child labor.

The issue could split off votes from the DFL, especially with the St. Louis County GOP attempting to make inroads with union members in the Iron Range. Historically, union members have tended to vote for Democrats, though northeastern Minnesota voting trends show a change of wind in decades-old party loyalties.

“Now is a time for the DFL to take common-sense action to protect our clean water from foreign mining conglomerates that threaten to poison our clean water with copper-nickel sulfide mines,” delegate Chris Knopf said.

Knopf is also the executive director of Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness, an environmental group that seeks stronger protections for Minnesota’s ecosystem.

Delegate Jean Baldwin, a union journeyman, had some of the harshest words Saturday for “Prove It First” supporters.

“If you vote for ‘Prove It First,’ you’re selfish,” she said. “You’re selfish because your vote means all mining that Minnesota needs and will do with the highest level of safe mining practices with skilled labor will be done in another country using child labor with little to no safe mining practices.”

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At least one South St. Paul police officer unintentionally discharged a service weapon after a man brandished and pointed a gun at officers on Friday night, police said.

Nobody was hurt in the incident.

About 10:15 p.m. Friday, officers responded to a garage in the 200 block of Grand Avenue West on reports of a disturbance, according to a news release from the South St. Paul Police Department. When officers arrived, the man pointed a gun at them and at least one officer unintentionally fired at the man.

The suspect, 54, was taken into custody and is being held on suspicion of second-degree assault at the Dakota County Jail.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating the incident.

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Authorities have released the name of the man suspected of shooting and killing a Minneapolis police officer this week in the Whittier neighborhood of south Minneapolis.

Mustafa Ahmed Mohamed, 35, was found dead of multiple gunshot wounds in the 2100 block of Blaisdell Avenue, according to a news release from the Hennepin County medical examiner’s office.

Authorities say when police responded Thursday to reports of a double shooting in an apartment building, one officer, Jamal Mitchell, 36, was ambushed and fatally shot. Authorities later found Osman Said Jimale, 32, dead inside an apartment. He had been shot multiple times. Bonney Bowman, spokeswoman for the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said that her agency is still waiting on ballistics testing results to confirm whether Mohamed also shot and killed Jimale.

Minneapolis police received the call at 5:15 p.m. Thursday about two people shot inside an apartment at 2221 Blaisdell Ave S.

About a block away from the building, Mitchell stopped to help an injured man, later identified as Mohamed.

In a photo posted to the Minneapolis Police Department X (Twitter) account on May 31, 2024, Minneapolis police officer Jamal Mitchell is seen. Mitchell, responding to a shooting call, was ambushed and killed in Minneapolis on May 30, 2024, when he stopped to provide aid to a man. That man fatally shot the officer, authorities said. The death of Mitchell happened during a chaotic situation involving two crime scenes two blocks apart that left three people dead, two others hospitalized in critical condition and another officer and a firefighter with less serious injuries. (Minneapolis Police Department

“While rendering aid to an injured male, the injured male pulled a gun and assassinated Officer Mitchell and continued to shoot him after he fell to the ground,” Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said.

Two Minneapolis police officers fired their weapons during the incident. Mohamed was shot and died at the scene.

Mitchell died at the hospital from multiple gunshot wounds. Another Minneapolis officer was shot, and has been treated and released from the hospital. A Minneapolis firefighter was also injured. Another man, who the BCA said was a bystander, was shot in his vehicle. He was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries.

Officers searched the apartment building and found Jimale’s body and another person who was injured and taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. The conditions of the two hospitalized men were not available Saturday night.

Mitchell, of Maple Grove, was a father and was engaged to be married. O’Hara asked people to keep Mitchell’s loved ones and friends in their prayers.

Court records show that along with a trespassing charge and some traffic incidents, Mohamed was convicted of burglary twice — in 2007 and in 2008. There are active warrants for both cases even though he had already been convicted and sentenced. No further details were available in court records.

The Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis, Law Enforcement Labor Services, and Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association announced Friday that they’ve partnered to collect donations for Mitchell’s family. They said it’s the official and only donation platform verified by the city of Minneapolis and Mitchell’s family, and all proceeds will go to his family.

People can donate at LELS.ORG/benevolent-fund or by mailing a check to the Law Enforcement Labor Services Benevolent Fund, Attention: Officer Mitchell, 2700 Freeway Blvd., Suite 700, Brooklyn Center, MN 55430.

The incident is under investigation by the BCA.

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HOUSTON — Framber Valdez pitched no-hit ball into the seventh inning and Yordan Alvarez hit two of Houston’s four homersin the Astros’ 5-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday.

Valdez (4-3) didn’t allow a hit until a single to start the seventh. He yielded the two hits and a run with four strikeouts in seven innings.

Alvarez hit a two-run home run off Joe Ryan (4-4) in the first and his solo shot off the starter in the fifth inning made it 5-0. It’s the third multi-homer game of the season for Alvarez and 18th of his career.

Struggling first baseman José Abreu hit his first home run and second extra-base hit of the season in the second inning. Kyle Tucker added a homer in the third to give him 19 this season, which ranks second in the majors behind Aaron Judge’s 20.

Houston led 5-2 with one out in the ninth when Jake Meyers made a leaping catch at wall in center field to rob Byron Buxton of a homer. Closer Josh Hader raised both arms high in the air after the catch and Buxton, a fellow center fielder, tipped his helmet to Meyers.

Hader then struck out Willi Castro to get his eighth save.

Valdez sailed through the first six innings. He walked Manuel Margot to start the fourth and plunked Kyle Farmer to open the sixth but had faced the minimum thanks to double plays in both innings.

Valdez got some help from his defense for the first out of the third. Tucker made a leaping catch just before crashing into the right field wall on a fly ball hit by Farmer.

The Twins got their first hit when Margot singled on a grounder to center field to start the seventh. Margot moved to second on a wild pitch with one out before scoring on a two-out single by Jose Miranda that cut the lead to 5-1.

An RBI single by Carlos Correa got the Twins within 5-2 with two outs in the eighth.

Tucker walked in the first before the first homer by Alvarez made it 2-0.

There were two outs in the second when Abreu’s shot pushed the lead to 3-0. Abreu was playing his fourth game in the majors after spending almost a month in the minors to work on his swing after a terrible start to the season.

Tucker’s home run to right center came with one out in the third to make it 4-0. There were two outs in the fifth when Alvarez connected again.

Ryan yielded eight hits, including four homers and five runs — all season highs — in five innings.

Minnesota Twins’ Byron Buxton (25) tips his helmet to Houston Astros center fielder Jake Meyers after Meyers caught a fly fall by Buxton during the ninth inning of a baseball game Saturday, June 1, 2024, in Houston. The Astros won 5-2. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)