Top Minnesota Democratic Party According to the Associated Press, after several scandals, Congressman John Thompson was asked to resign.
After the police shot and killed his friend Ferrando Castilla in 2016, Thompson was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in January after participating in politics to promote law enforcement reforms. However, scandals involving Thompson, such as domestic abuse charges, previous misdemeanor charges, and his recent comments that led others to question the legality of his residence in the São Paulo area prompted him to resign.
State House Speaker Melissa Holtman and Majority Leader Ryan Winkler said: “Rep. Thompson ran for office to advance progressive policies, but his recent behavior and unacceptable reports of abuse and misconduct have become Obstacles to this work.”
Both Hotman and Winkler asked Thompson to resign, followed by other Democrats and Governor Tim Walz. However, Thompson rejected his request to step down.
For more reports from the Associated Press, please see below:
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
After the old domestic abuse allegations involving Thompson surfaced, he is already dealing with the consequences of a fierce traffic stop.
legislation Republicans Threatening to file an ethics complaint against Thompson, Thompson became an outspoken activist for police accountability.
Thompson used his position to advocate regulatory reforms to protect people of color from unfair treatment. However, after several turbulent weeks, KMSP-TV first reported allegations of domestic abuse on Friday, which was the last straw to overwhelm the top leaders of the Democratic Party.
First, after Thompson claimed that he was racially discriminated against in a traffic stop on July 4, his residency status in the São Paulo area was questioned. Then, he was tried last week for a misdemeanor of obstructing the police. Before he ran for office, the conflict resulted in the lockdown of suburban hospitals in 2019.
By Saturday, Minnesota’s top Democrats had had enough. Holtman and Winkler say that his continued existence is endangering the cause he advocates.
Thompson insists that he lives in his area. His lawyer Jordan Kushner denied the allegations of abuse on Sunday and questioned the authenticity of police reports cited in news reports. He stated that the police had despised Thompson since he was the head of the Minneapolis Police Union since he made obscene remarks at a demonstration outside the home of Lieutenant Colonel Bob Kroll in the suburb of Hugo last August .Thompson, noticed last summer George Freud, Talked about “burning Hugo” and criticized Pinata who portrayed Kroll and his wife, WCCO TV anchor.
Kushner called the police report “the product of a campaign to shut up an American African who publicly opposed a powerful and abusive interest, and not the product of any effort to expose the truth.”
On Monday, Kurt Daudt, the top Republican in the Minnesota House of Representatives and minority leader, called on Holtman to explain what she intends to do with Thompson by Wednesday. He said that if Hotman does not take action, House Republicans will continue to file ethics complaints.
The team is composed of two Democrats and two Republicans, with one alternate member from each party. It is scheduled to meet on Friday to consider different ethics complaints against Thompson. Republican State Representative Eric Lucero (Eric Lucero) condemned Lucero in a controversial debate on police legislation in Thompson after he said: “I know you are a racist.” The document was submitted at the end of last month. Republican lawmakers claimed in the complaint that Thompson’s behavior violated the House of Representatives’ rules of etiquette.
Had it not been for his statement on the fifth anniversary of Castile’s death on July 6, Thompson’s dissolution might not have occurred. At the memorial service, Thompson revealed that the Sao Paulo police stopped him because he lost his front license plate-he called it “excuse to stop”, which was the kind he tried to end as a legislator.
Thompson said: “I’m still being described…you can still get a black driver’s ticket in the state.”
It was soon discovered that Thompson was driving with a Wisconsin driver’s license and had never obtained a driver’s license from Minnesota. If he is a Minnesota resident, he is required by law to drive. Thompson has yet to publicly prove that he lives in the Sao Paulo area.
Amidst the anger that traffic stopped, Thompson’s trial last week began with charges of misdemeanor obstruction before his campaign, which had hardly attracted people’s attention before. He was accused of interfering with a police officer in a suburban hospital in 2019, when his family and friends attempted suicide and crowds gathered. Thompson claimed that the police and hospital staff overreacted because the people in the crowd were black.
Then on Friday, KMSP-TV reported four allegations of domestic abuse involving Thompson between 2003 and 2010. In a 2003 incident in Superior, Wisconsin, Thompson was accused of assaulting his 5-year-old daughter in the face of his girlfriend in the supermarket parking lot in front of her. He eventually admitted to the allegations of minor misconduct and escaping from the police. In 2004, he allegedly attacked the same woman in an apartment on the outskirts of São Paulo.
The prosecutor refused to charge the incident in São Paulo in 2009 and 2010, or two other incidents. He allegedly made threats while arguing with women and took out his penis in front of them and the children present. Through Kushner, Thompson denied all allegations of abuse.
Democratic state Rep. Cedric Fraser is an African American freshman who became the main voice in the House of Representatives on police accountability this year. He avoided a question about whether Thompson could survive political charges and lose Democratic support. The question said it depends on Holtman, the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
But Fraser said that Thompson should conduct due process with voters through the ethics committee. He said that the legislature needs citizen legislators to bring a variety of life experiences to guide policies and help improve people’s lives.
Fraser said: “None of us can do this job perfectly, because there is no flaw of any kind, no life of any kind enters this job.”
