Klobuchar staff to host discussions

MINNEAPOLIS — Staff from U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s office will be in Fairmont on Tuesday as part of a series of discussions on veterans issues.

They will be at the Martin County Library in Fairmont from 1-2 p.m. Tuesday.

Representatives from Klobuchar’s office will be joined by staff from the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs, county Veterans Service officers and Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. They will highlight the earned benefits available to veterans and offer assistance on benefit applications. The public is invited.

Klobuchar’s staff will make other appearances in the area as well. They will be at the County Government Center, 402 White St., in Jackson from 10-11 a.m. Tuesday and the American Legion Post, 142 N. Broadway Ave., in Albert Lea from 4-5 p.m. Tuesday.

Officers won’t face charges

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Five Minnesota police officers were legally justified in using deadly force when they fatally shot a 23-year-old Somali-American man who raised his gun and fired as authorities were trying to end an hours-long standoff in suburban St. Paul, a prosecutor said Wednesday.

Isak Abdirahman Aden was killed July 2 after a standoff in Eagan in which he at times held a gun to his head and refused orders to move away from it. According to a report released Wednesday, Aden was shot after authorities say he picked up the gun, raised his arm and fired as officers initiated a plan to take him into custody.

Eagan Officer Jacob Peterson, and Bloomington Officers Matthew Ryan, Anthony Kiehl, Adam Stier and Daniel Nelson all fired their weapons. According to the report, the five officers were assigned to provide lethal cover for their colleagues during the standoff.

Aden, who had THC in his system, was shot 11 times.

“They all believed at the time they fired their service weapons that Aden posed a risk to the lives of the other officers at the scene,” the report said. Authorities have released squad camera video that captured the moments of the shooting, but blurred out the shooting itself, and while Aden moves and appears to be reaching for something, viewers cannot see whether he raised his arm.

Activists sent out a statement Wednesday demanding the release of unedited police video.

Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom said that even though he concluded the officers acted reasonably, “any loss of life is a tragic occurrence, and I wish to express my sympathy to the family and friends of Isak Aden, whose life was lost in this incident.”