A fierce political backlash erupted online over the weekend after a Minnesota Star Tribune columnist defended Governor Tim Walz's decision to pardon a foreign-born child sex offender right before his scheduled deportation.
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Subscribe Sekarang →House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, a Minnesota Republican, publicly denounced the flagship newspaper on social media, accusing the publication of protecting a violent felon and urging citizens to stop reading the paper.
The Minnesota Board of Pardons, comprising Governor Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, and state Chief Justice Natalie Hudson, voted unanimously on June 10 to grant clemency to Tou Lue Vang. Vang, a Laotian national, was convicted of repeatedly raping a ten-year-old child between 2002 and 2004.
In her column, opinion writer Rochelle Olson praised the governor under a section titled "Cheers to Gov. Tim Walz," highlighting his refusal to back down from the controversial pardon. Olson noted that Vang received unanimous backing from the board, though she omitted details regarding the victim's young age and the repeated nature of the sexual assaults.
Olson further drew criticism by comparing Vang's past actions to the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot, observing that individuals involved in those events also received federal pardons. Critics and online commentators swiftly condemned the comparison, calling the logic absurd and indefensible.
A spokesperson for the Minnesota Star Tribune defended the publication, stating that the paper regularly prints a wide array of political opinions and noting that the columnist simply aligned with the unanimous decision of the state board of pardons.
Despite the state pardon, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on July 10 that the federal government revoked Vang's legal status and deported him to his native Laos. Following the deportation, Governor Walz stood by his decision, questioning publicly whether removing Vang rendered the community any safer.