Earlier this year, much hullabaloo shared with the media on the part of St. Cloud's #UniteCloud ("provides education and actionable steps to resolve tension and restore dignity to all the people of Central MN") about former California/Arizona Minuteman Civil Defense Corps member Ron Branstner's anti-refugee presentations and fellow travelers.
After reviewing a tweet and a Facebook post of a group photo of #UniteCloud Community Director Haji Yusuf, Branstner and #unitecloud Executive Director and charter school board member Natalie Ringsmuth, we can only conclude that the tensions over refugee resettlement are over--at least as far as Mr. Branstner's activity goes.
After an "Ask the Governor" event Thursday at the Gorecki Center on the College of Saint Benedict campus that was sponsored by the Eugene J. McCarthy Center for Public Policy and Civic Engagement, #unitecloud tweeted:
#unitecloud will have conversations with anyone who engages with us respectfully and desires the unity of this city. pic.twitter.com/UYLtzkZVtM
— #UNITECLOUD (@UniteCloudMN) March 4, 2016
The anti-refugee resettlement and anti-immigrant activist, who appears to have moved back to Central Minnesota, is not identified in the tweet, but is named in the Facebook post on Friday (screenshot above):
Ron Branstner and #unitecloud couldn't be more different when it comes to our feelings on refugees and what they add to our area. However, we both have an equal stake in this city. We both have equal say in the future of this city. We will continue to have conversations - not just with people who agree with us - but with anyone who engages with us respectfully and desires the unity of this city.
As one Latino and labor organizer said after seeing the post, that's "astounding."
For ourselves, we think it's probably a relief for the parties involved that the photo emerged in real life. Were this incident part of the narrative arc of a fictional streaming media show--say, the picture of Frank Underwood's father and a local hooded bankster on House of Cards--there would be much drama. But a unity photo of people committed to ending tensions and a member of the California Minutemen Civil Defense Corps, described as a "Nativist Extremist" group by the Southern Poverty Law Center?
It's okay if you're nice about it.
#unitecloud's not-quite-so-Kumbaya past with Branstner
What's certainly astounding to Bluestem is the fact that Yusuf and Ringsmuth must share a markedly different definition of "respectfully" and "unity."
Indeed, much of the publicity that brought #unitecloud to the state's attention concerned Branstner's presentations in the St. Cloud area. In St. Cloud is the worst place in Minnesota to be Somali, City Pages' Susan Du reported:
Churches and veterans' groups took to hosting anti-refugee speakers, such as former California border patrolman [sic] Ron Branstner, who claims resettlement is a taxpayer-funded veil for corporations to traffic in slave labor, and for cunning Muslims to push Sharia law on Middle America. It's a thesis faithfully nurtured by White Bear cable access host Tim Kinley, fringe blogger Ann Corcoran, Willmar podcaster Bob Enos, and St. Cloud Times columnist A.J. Kern. . . .
In October, Haji joined Ringsmuth to hear Ron Branstner speak at Granite City Baptist Church, where the pastor Dennis Campbell was known for filling ad space in the Times with claims that "Moslems" were trying to take control of America through immigration, reproduction, drugs, and the gay agenda. Haji interrupted Branstner when the discussion moved to whether the Koran commanded violence. An older man stood up in the front row and shouted Haji down. Shut up and assimilate, he said.
How nice.
It's good to see they can all get along now.
We're not so sure how "respectful" Branstner is--that notion that the Koran commands violence on the part of Muslims sounds a lot like the claims made in documents that he handed out at an early January talk in Baxter that we shared in Unpacking Ron Branstner's Blandin Foundation bashing & fact checking his Baxter handouts.
For a description of the event itself--and this appears to be his standard presentation, see our post, Ron Branstner "decries Hillary Clinton, Democrats, socialism, the United Nations, Forum Communications, the Blandin Foundation, the American Red Cross, the popular vote. . ."
But if it passes the Ringsmuth and Yusef Minnesota Nice test, they'll continue in conversation.
We're also tracking down statements about a "Ron" in a written report back from someone who attended the private "Shariah 101" event earlier this year. According to the notes, "Ron" was a key name at the event; we've wondered if it's Ron Branstner. #unitecloud organized much social media about that episode--but perhaps closed meetings are respectful and conducive to unity as they now define it.
UPDATE: The attendee has looked at the photo and identified Ron Branstner as the male organizer at the Sharia 101 meeting. [end update]
Our post about the event is Four MN House Republicans introduce companion to Senator Brown's "foreign law" bill.
Branstner in Avon on March 17
Yusuf and Ringsmuth won't have to wait long to engage Branstner in respectful dialogue that they imagine will bring the community together for everyone. In Refugee resettlement topic of March 17 meeting, the Dairyland Peach reports that Branstner will be speaking just 16 miles down the road in Avon, MN:
Ron Branstner, a California/Arizona Minuteman, will be speaking Thursday, March 17, on the impact of refugee resettlement on area communities.
The event will be held at the Landing, 18527 County Road 154 in Avon.
A $10 chicken dinner will be served at 5 p.m., with the presentation to follow at 6:30 p.m. A small donation will also be collected to cover expenses.
Branstner is expected to provide information about how to follow the money trail, the secrecy of those agencies who contract with the government to process the refugees and the use of taxpayer dollars without accountability or oversight.
Branstner is said to believe that people from throughout the world are welcome to America, but that no individual group or ideology should infringe upon the rights, liberties and freedoms outlined in the U.S. Constitution.
The event is being organized by the Central Minnesota Tea Party Patriots.
For a review of Branstner's activities--including his engagement with immigration reduction groups in Minnesota that hope to lower immigration to pre-1965--we recommend our 2014 post written prior to a speaking engagement in Willmar. The post includes this gem from a May 2010 Post Bulletin article:
Branstner encouraged the crowd to vote out every incumbent "because they bury themselves in this [Blandin] program." He alleged that U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison "has flooded the area with Somalis and Hmongs" to keep himself in power. Ellison's congressional district is in the Minneapolis area and doesn't include Austin.
Pure respect and unity. Or something.
Screengrab: #unitecloud's "Ok Then" moment with Minuteman Ron Branstner on Thursday. Via Facebook.
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