New charges against the man accused of murdering Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman. Then, an Owatonna teen’s visit to Buffalo Wild Wings turned into a harrowing experience and an incident of gender policing. And, it could be the end of the line for the Northstar commuter rail service.
—–Executive Producer: Victor Palomino Producer: Jose Ozoria Anchor: Chantel SinGs Reader scripting: Joel Glaser Fact checking: Joel Glaser, Victor Palomino Editorial support: Emily Krumberger Mixing & mastering: Chris Harwood
Transcript
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HOST: This is North Star Stories: Voices from Where We Live. Today in Minnesota:
ANCHOR: New charges against the man accused of murdering Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman. Then, a visit to a southwestern restaurant turned into a harrowing experience for one teen. And, it could be the end of the line for the Northstar commuter rail service
I'm Chantel SinGs.
The man accused of assassinating Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman now faces even more charges. A grand jury has indicted Vance Boleter on two counts of first-degree premeditated murder, four counts of attempted first-degree murder, felony cruelty to an animal, and impersonating a police officer. The attempted first-degree murder charges are for Senator John Hoffman, his wife, his daughter, and Representative Kristin Bahner. Bolter faces the animal cruelty charge for allegedly killing the Hortman's dog. These charges are in addition to the federal charges Boelter is already facing. The new charges bring the possibility of life in prison without parole.
Next, a teen in Southwest Minnesota says a restaurant employee harassed and accused her of using the wrong bathroom. As Jose Ozoria reports, Buffalo Wild Wings in Owatonna now faces an official discrimination charge with the state.
Gerika: We just had walked in there, and soon as we walked in there, they were ready, rude.
Jose Ozoria: That's Gerika. She's an 18-year-old high school student. What began as an unpleasant experience full of microaggressions and disrespect while at a Buffalo Wild Wings in Owatonna, Minnesota, in the south central part of the state, turned into a harrowing experience that would leave the teen stunned and traumatized.
Gerika: We went to the bathroom, and not even two minutes while we were in there, the lady came banging on the door.
Jose Ozoria: The teenager initially thought that it was her friend pranking her by banging on the door, but it wasn't. It was the B-Dubs waitress.
Gerika: The incident escalated fast. First, like my heart had dropped because, like I was so confused.
Jose Ozoria: That's when the aggressive banging turned into so much more.
Gerika: And then she had come in yelling, saying, "This is a woman's restroom. The man has to get out."
Jose Ozoria: The waitress gave conflicting directives, telling Gerika to get out of the restroom, while not allowing her to leave the restroom, not believing the teenagers' pleas that it was all a mistake.
Gerika: I was like, "I am a lady." And then she was like, "You have to get out now."
Jose Ozoria: Scared, trapped and humiliated, Gerika unzipped her hoodie to show she had breasts.
Gerika: I like, showed her. I was like, "I am a girl." Only then did the waitress back down, and then she just walked out, didn't even apologize or anything.
Jose Ozoria: Gender Justice is an organization established to advance gender equity through the law. Recently, they filed a charge of discrimination with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights on behalf of Gerika. Sara Jane Baldwin is a senior staff attorney with Gender Justice and the lead attorney on this case. She explains why the charge was filed.
Sara Jane Baldwin: The Minnesota Human Rights Act is our state sort of civil rights law that protects people against discrimination in places like businesses or any places of public accommodations, which is anywhere that's open to the public.
Jose Ozoria: Gender Justice as an organization believes that Gerika's experience involved elements of gender policing, racial bias and assumptions about LGBTQ plus identity. Ms. Baldwin—
Sara Jane Baldwin: Again, one of the things that we are interested in doing is sort of naming what happened. That all of these things were at play, and none of them can be ignored.
Jose Ozoria: Ellie Krug, a transgender activist, author and lawyer, says that the incident is part of a broader problem in our society.
Ellie Krug: Disgust that that would occur, but not necessarily surprise, because here in America right now people are being empowered to become gender police.
Jose Ozoria: Ms. Krug says that when incidents like this happen at a place of business, it reflects on the leadership and culture of the company.
Ellie Krug: Culture leaders need to understand that they have to model for their team members.
Jose Ozoria: We reached out to the corporate headquarters of Buffalo Wild Wings for comment on this incident, with no response. The entire experience has left Gerika a changed person.
Gerika: I just am so uncomfortable going into like public bathrooms now.
Jose Ozoria: For North Star Stories, I'm Jose Ozoria.
ANCHOR: You are listening to North Star Stories.
The end of the upcoming Vikings season will also likely mark the end of the line for the Northstar Commuter Rail Service. The Metropolitan Council wants to transition from train to bus service starting January fifth of next year. But the new bus line will not start and end in Big Lake, nor will it stop in Elk River. Instead, buses will run between Minneapolis and Ramsey and between Minneapolis and Anoka. The Northstar train began running in 2009 and was supposed to connect Minneapolis to St. Cloud. But, when ridership dropped during COVID, the Council scrapped the extension between Big Lake and St. Cloud. The Council will make a final decision later this month.
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HOST: North Star Stories is produced by AMPERS, diverse radio for Minnesota's communities, with support from the McKnight Foundation and the State of Minnesota. Online at ampers dot org.