Is Tom Emmer's son and campaign employee guilty of assault on a passed-out girl?

[Minnesota Raindog]

In a story that originated in City Pages, this is a photo taken from Tripp Emmer's Facebook page:



Spotty suggests this could be grounds for assault charges:

http://thecuckingstool.blogspot.com/2010/09/tripped-up.html

"That's Tripp Emmer, grinning and giving the thumbs up over an apparently unconscious young woman who has had penises crudely drawn on her cheek and arm.

Let’s be direct: this is assault."

Commenter Phoenix Woman suggests this statute would be a good place to start:

https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?year=2009&id=609.235#stat.609.235

What do you think, DUers? Is this the kind of family values Tom Emmer wants to bring into the Governor's Mansion on Summit Avenue? If you thought Jesse's kid had some wild parties, wait till the Emmer Klan moves in.

[geardaddy]

1. Sounds like Grunseth's Disease by Proxy.

[Brickbat]

2. I commented on the other one, but I'll say it here too: I don't think it's assault, but it is a

prime example of felony-level classlessness.

[dflprincess]

5. There are varying degrees of assault

and this is was an assualt on a person who couldn't defend herself though I imagine it would be considered a fairly low level crime.

[glinda]

3. Is this a whole family of drunks?

When Emmer speaks over people and loudly and belligerent things come out of his mouth, I can only think of the alcoholics that I have known.

[dflprincess]

4. More Republican family values

I haven't seen the Emmer Family ad since this story broke - but maybe I've just missed it.

Really, I don't think the kid's bad behavior is much of a campaign issue - even the best parents can have a kid turn out criminally stupid - but it will make it hard for Emmer to pull the family values crap.

[trotsky]

6. Well, it could be argued it was Rod Grams' messed-up kid that cost him his Senate seat.

Minnesotans do care about this kind of thing.

[Generic Brad]

7. We cared about the behavior of Hatch's daughters too

Emmers should be held to the same standard Hatch and Grams were held to.

[Minnesota Raindog]

9. The issue of whether a candidate's kids is fair game is irrelevant here

Tripp Emmer is not only Tom Emmer's son--he's a paid campaign employee on his father's gubernatorial campaign. He should be held to the same standards as anyone's paid campaign employees--and that means he's fair game regardless of his relationship to the candidate.

You can see the receipts for his payment in Emmer's latest campaign filing with the state:

http://www.cfbreport.state.mn.us/pdfStorage/2010/CampFin/A/16914_A1.pdf

$622.44 on June 30 and $622.44 on July 14

I wonder if Emmer's campaign donors are happy about the family values they're buying with their campaign cash?

[dflprincess]

10. I hadn't heard that,

and that does make it different.

Nevermind.

[dflprincess]

8. I don't remember that deal all that clearly

but wasn't part of the issue Gram's response to it and reports that police went easy on the kid on an earlier charge because of who daddy is (as well as his long standing holier than thou attitude)? And then the kid (who I think was in his 20s at the time) stole a car and headed to the southwest with an underage girl in the car?

Hs son's problems came on top of one of his aides getting caught trying to sabatoge Ciresi's campaign - the aide that Grams had been rumored to be involved with for years and who he did marry after divorcing his first wife. (Though I think the divorce & remarriage came after he lost to Dayton)

[dodger501]

11. Nick Coleman's column in the Strib today

He talks about an Emmer kid getting caught DUI but nothing like this. Same kid?