Minnesota high court says Minneapolis public safety question can be voted on

The Minnesota Supreme Court says the Minneapolis public safety ballot question can be voted on and counted.

In a ruling late Thursday, the high court reversed a district court's decision to block the city from counting votes on the question. There was no memo immediately explaining the court's decision.

Earlier Thursday, the state's high court said city and county officials didn't have to provide an insert for voters providing better context with the question.

Early voting opens at 8 a.m. Friday.

St. Paul man who shot at MPD in self-defense acquitted of all charges by jury

A St. Paul man has been acquitted on all charges in a jury trial stemming from an incident where he shot at Minneapolis police officers in self-defense last summer.

Court records show 28-year-old Jaleel Stallings was acquitted on Wednesday of multiple charges, including two counts of attempted second-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault, two counts of second-degree assault, second-degree riot and intentional discharge of a firearm that endangers safety.

Stallings claimed self-defense in court.

The incident happened days after the murder of George Floyd by then-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. According to the original complaint, officers were allegedly patrolling near 15th Avenue South and Lake Street on May 30, 2020. When officers reached the area of 14th Avenue South, they witnessed a group of people that allegedly dispersed upon seeing police. Police then got out of an unmarked white van, wearing full uniforms and Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) gear. Officers involved were assigned to deploy "non-lethal" rounds to "attempt to disperse crowds" as a curfew was in effect at the time.

This Minneapolis Police SWAT unit, supervised by Sgt. Andrew Bittell, was directed to enforce the mandated curfew and disperse rioters, looters and arsonists. According to Judge William H. Koch, who viewed the body cameras in their entirety and submitted court documents reflecting on it, the officers on that unit also were equipped with 40 mm launchers and rounds of rubber bullets. Department policy states that the purpose of these launchers is "to assist in the de-escalation of potentially violent confrontations." MPD policy also states that the launchers must be marked with an orange barrel, which indicates the weapon is "less-lethal."

Marine Corporal Discharged over Refusal to Wear a Mask

Marine Cpl. Whitney McHaffie refused to comply with a mask mandate and doesn't want to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

A month after the Defense Department's mask mandate for unvaccinated troops went into effect, she was booted from the military, possibly making her the first service member to be forced out of the service for violating COVID-related rules.

McHaffie, who served at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, went viral on social media after appearing in a video with Josh Mandel, a former Ohio state treasurer who is currently in his second run for the Senate. The video, in which she tells her story of being swiftly booted from the Corps for disobeying the mask mandate, had more than 400,000 views as of Tuesday morning.

Vaccines are now mandatory for troops, but were not at the time of McHaffie's discharge. Despite that, the amateur MMA fighter and fifth-grade teacher in Ohio sought a religious exemption for the COVID-19 vaccine that had not been resolved by the time of her discharge.