23 Apr 2024

North Carolina man sentenced to six years in prison for attacking police with pole at Capitol

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By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN (Associated Press)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A man who became a fugitive after a federal jury convicted him of assaulting police officers during the U.S. Capitol riot was sentenced on Tuesday to six years in prison.

David Joseph Gietzen, 31, of Sanford, North Carolina, struck a police officer with a pole during a mob’s Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Gietzen told U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols that he didn’t intend to hurt anybody that day. But he didn’t express any regret or remorse for his actions on Jan. 6, when he joined a mob of Donald Trump supporters in interrupting the joint session of Congress for certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory.

“I have to make it explicitly known that I believe I did the right thing,” he said before learning his sentence.

The judge said Gietzen made it clear during his trial testimony — and his sentencing hearing — that he clings to his baseless beliefs that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Trump.

“Mr. Gietzen essentially was unapologetic today about his conduct,” Nichols said.

Last August, a jury convicted Gietzen of eight counts, including assault and civil disorder charges. After his trial conviction, Gietzen disregarded a court order to report to prison on Oct. 20, 2023, while awaiting sentencing. He missed several hearings for his case before he was arrested at his mother’s home in North Carolina on Dec. 12, 2023.

“This pattern of flouting rules and laws and doing what he wants, regardless of the consequences, is how Gietzen operates,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing.

Defense attorney Ira Knight said Gietzen apparently remained at his house, “just waiting to be picked up,” and wasn’t on the run from authorities or trying to hide after his conviction.

Prosecutors recommended a prison term of 10 years and one month for Gietzen, who worked as a computer programming engineer after graduating from North Carolina State University in 2017 with bachelor’s degrees in computer engineering and electrical engineering.

“Clearly, Gietzen is bright and able to get something done when he puts his mind to it – be it a college degree or assaulting officers as part of in a violent mob,” prosecutors wrote.

Gietzen’s attorneys requested a four-year prison sentence.

“David’s current philosophy is that he no longer wishes to be engaged with the political process,” defense attorneys wrote. “His involvement with politics has concluded and should be an indication to the Court that he is no longer interested in being a threat to the public or political process.”

Gietzen traveled to Washington, D.C., with his brother from their home in North Carolina. He attended then-President Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally near the White House on Jan. 6 before marching to the Capitol.

As the mob of Trump supporters overwhelmed a police line on the Capitol’s West Plaza, Gietzen shoved a police officer, grabbed another officer’s gas mask and struck an officer with a pole.

“And all of Gietzen’s violence was based on a lack of respect for law enforcement and the democratic process — its goal was to get himself and other rioters closer to the building so they could interfere with the certification of the election,” prosecutors wrote.

Gietzen later bragged about participating in the riot in messages to friends and relatives, saying he had “never been prouder to be an American.”

More than 1,350 people have been charged with Capitol riot-related federal crimes. Over 800 of them have been sentenced, with roughly two-thirds getting terms of imprisonment ranging from a few days to 22 years.

23 Apr 2024

St. Paul driver was going 77 mph when he struck and killed pedestrian, charges say

by | posted in: Politics | 0

A motorist was driving more than three times the speed limit when he struck and killed a man in St. Paul’s Summit-University neighborhood last summer, according to charges filed this week.

Abdirahman Ali Hassan, 20, of St. Paul, continually increased his speed after exiting Interstate 94 and up to when he hit 31-year-old Tashawn Burks, who was walking across Concordia Avenue at Dale Street around 9:45 p.m. July 11, the charges say. Burks, of St. Paul, died at the scene.

Abdirahman Ali Hassan (Courtesy of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)

Hassan left the scene, but soon stopped. He was booked on suspicion of criminal vehicular operation at the time but released pending further investigation. He was charged Monday with criminal vehicular homicide for operating a vehicle in a grossly negligent manner and causing death.

Witnesses told officers that a white car drove through the intersection heading east on Concordia Avenue at a high rate of speed.

One witness said they were stopped at a red light heading south on Dale Street and that Burks was walking north against the traffic light, according to the criminal complaint. Burks was halfway across Concordia Avenue when the witness heard a vehicle’s engine rev up and then saw a white sedan hit Burks, who went airborne. The driver did not stop.

While officers were securing the scene they learned the driver had stopped less than a mile away at Carroll Avenue and Arundel Street. Officers located a white Hyundai Sonata with heavy front-end damage and a damaged windshield. The driver, identified as Hassan, was in a “state of shock and had a blank stare on his face,” the complaint says, adding that he was “covered in glass and blood splatter.”

Hassan’s mother identified her son to police “since he was unable to talk at that time” and said he had called her crying and in shock and that she met him there, the complaint says. Hassan was transported to a hospital and later declined to speak to police about the crash.

A blood draw showed that Hassan did not have alcohol or drugs in his system.

Emergency vehicles on the scene on July 11, 2023, after a pedestrian was struck by a driver in the area of Concordia Avenue and Dale Street in St. Paul. (Courtesy of the St. Paul Police Department.)

Investigators obtained a search warrant and removed the Sonata’s electronic data recorder for crash analysis. It showed Hassan’s speed continually increased after he got off I-94 and “unsuccessfully tried to make a green light at the intersection” and hit Burks, the complaint says. The complaint does clearly state who had the right of way at the time of the crash.

The data showed the car’s speed was 62.8 mph five seconds before the crash and 77.7 mph at the time of impact. The speed limit on Concordia Avenue is 25 mph.

Court records show Hassan was convicted of speeding a month before the fatal crash. In March, New Brighton police clocked him driving 90 mph in a 60 mph zone on the entrance ramp to Interstate 694 from Silver Lake Road, according to a citation.

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23 Apr 2024

Na Eng, award-winning journalist, is first Asian-American inducted into Johnson High School Hall of Fame

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Na Eng, an award-winning journalist and humanitarian, was inducted into the Johnson High School Hall of Fame on April 15. The ceremony marked a historic moment as Eng became the first Asian-American and the second youngest individual to receive the honor.

When Eng was 5-years-old she and her family fled Cambodia’s killing fields. Her family found refuge on the East Side of St. Paul, where she went on to attend Johnson High School.

Na Eng. (Courtesy of Na Eng)

Michael Thompson, a former Johnson High teacher and principal, said Eng had that “Minnesota nice thing down, but had a resolve of iron behind it.” That kept his attention on her long enough to nominate her for the hall of fame 29 years after she graduated.

Raised by a single mother among seven siblings, Eng says her upbringing “instilled in her a profound sense of perseverance and compassion,” so after traveling the world for her journalism work, Eng returned home to St. Paul, to family, and to “the idea of a village, of people that I benefited from and who guided me as a young person.”

After graduating from Johnson, Eng studied at Columbia University and earned the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans, which funded her graduate studies. She also received a Fulbright Fellowship, which gave her the opportunity to produce and direct a documentary in Zimbabwe.

She has had a long career as a journalist for NBC, PBS, and CNBC. She has won several awards including an Emmy Award and an Edward R. Murrow Award. And, she has served as a trustee on several nonprofit boards, including at the Friends of the St. Paul Public Library and the national NAACP Foundation, and in an executive role at the McKnight Foundation.

Eng dedicated her induction to the Johnson High School Hall of Fame to her single mother, but said she also has a deep respect for her teachers and community.

Her induction is a representation of current and future generations of students St. Paul high schools. For the past ten years, the student body population at Johnson has been more than 50 percent Asian-American, marking Eng’s recognition as a “powerful and visual representation for the multicultural students at Johnson High School,” said Thompson.

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23 Apr 2024

Peñaloga tapped to be Basic Needs’ new executive director

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Opey Peñaloga, chief operations officer at Special Olympics Idaho, has been hired to be the next executive director of Basic Needs Inc. of South Washington County.

Peñaloga will start his new position on May 1.

Opey Peñaloga (Courtesy of Basic Needs)

He succeeds retiring executive director Vickie Snyder, who has led the organization, formerly known as Stone Soup, since 2019.

While at Special Olympics Idaho, Peñaloga led the operations of the organization through the challenges of the pandemic and helped stabilize the program, grow the team and diversify fundraising strategies, Synder said.

Snyder praised his “exceptional leadership skills and vision,” adding that they will “undoubtedly propel (Basic Needs) to new heights.”

Basic Needs, based in St. Paul Park, has two core sites of work supporting their mission: Basic Needs Thrift Shop and Basic Needs Food Market.

As executive director, Peñaloga will be responsible for maintaining and creating partnerships and relationships with the community. His duties include staff and volunteer oversight, operational management, strategic planning, fundraising and development.

“I can’t wait to continue this work together with the Basic Needs community as we broaden our impact and reach to serve more individuals and families,” he said.

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