Was state representative Jeremy Munson, New Republican House Caucus-Lake Crystal, doing some New Republican caucusing with a rowdy "Front Row Joe" at Donald Trump's rally in Rochester (above, via Facebook) back in October?
The Star Tribune reports in Minnesota man arrested at Elizabeth Warren campaign event in Iowa:
Randall J. Thom, 58, attempted to assault some in the crowd as Warren greeted people outside the venue in Storm Lake, Iowa, police said.
A Minnesota man was arrested Saturday on suspicion of disorderly conduct at a Warren campaign event in Storm Lake, Iowa, according to the Des Moines Register.
Randall J. Thom, 58, attempted to assault some in the crowd as Warren greeted people outside the venue, police said.
Thom, of Lakefield, Minn., is an enthusiastic supporter of President Trump who has been at many of his campaign and postcampaign rallies.
UPDATE: Since we've gotten a couple of comments from Thom fans about news reports of his arrest being "fake news" or that Thom would never hurt anyone, we looked again at the story. Here is a report from an northwest Iowa news source owned by the conservative Sinclair Broadcast Group, Minnesota man arrested following incident at Sen. Elizabeth Warren rally:
A Minnesota man was arrested this afternoon during Senator Elizabeth Warren's rally in Storm Lake, Iowa
Senator Warren's rally was scheduled for 12:45 Saturday afternoon at Our Place in Storm Lake.
Storm Lake Police say 58-year-old Randal James Thom of Lakefield, Minnesota was part of the overflow crowd outside the facility when the incident occurred around 1:00 p.m..
Thom allegedly became very vocal while Senator Warren was outside greeting attendees before he became aggressive and attempted to assault others in the crowd.
Authorities intervened and took Thom into custody.
He has been charged with Disorderly Conduct, a simple misdemeanor and was held at the Buena Vista County Jail on $300 bond.
No injuries were reported in the incident.
Has Thom gotten into trouble before?
The claim by a reader in our comments section that "This is how the media works! Randall did not and would never attack anyone you guys always twist it! Get your story straight before you post such nonsense!" sent us to the Minnesota Trial Court Public Access (MPA) Remote View, where we learned that while a 2015 fifth degree assault charge against Mr. Thom was dismissed, he was convicted in the same case of "Trespass-Return to Property-To Harass/Abuse," a misdemeanor (Case No. 32-CR-15-51, which is still under the court's jurisdiction).
Since Thom's Trump rally activities have been covered extensively and favorably by the media, after Thom literally thrust himself into the front row of these political event, Thom is something of a public figure--as well as someone charged with a minor crime. Bluestem did not look at his record until a reader raised the issue of his actions being twisted by the media.
Thom has been convicted of eight felonies on theft and drug charges between 1989 and 2011, but these are non-violent offenses. However, he has also been charged in 2007 and later convicted of "Giving Peace Officer False Name-of Another Person" in Pipestone County (Case 59-CR-07-107) and in 2011, Thom was charged and later convicted of "Drivers' Licenses - Use False Name/DOB To Identify Self to Police" in Dakota County (Case 19HA-CR-11-1397). That's not a sign of respect for law enforcement officers,
The most recent conviction( Case 32-VB-17-88 in Jackson County), related to having a dog that kills livestock, is a minor offense, but for farmers and rural people, it's not neighborly to let a dog kill your livelihood.
As readers can see in the screenshot at the top of this post, New Republican House state representative Jeremy Munson, Lake Crystal, probably hadn't done a background check on Mr. Thom at the time of the October Trump rally in Rochester when he dubbed the Lakefield man a great patriot.
Munson can't be faulted for that.
End update
Munson's a fanboy
Back in October, Munson posted on Facebook:
Randall Thom, a.k.a. Front Row Joe from the Windowm area, has attended dozens of Trump Rallys and is frequently the first in line and has frequently been on national news A great patriot! That's his tent set up behind us. — with Jeremy Munson and Randall Thom.
Looks like Thom made the national news again.
Thom's videos about the Warren event
Here's video Thom posted to Facebook from the Warren event (turn on the sound with the microphone icon in the lower right corner):
Here's his explanation after the incident--he uses an offensive nickname for Warren (turn on the sound with the microphone icon in the lower right corner):
In an earlier national news appearance by Thom, the Detroit News' Richard Barr reported in ‘Front Row Joes’ first in line for Trump rally:
Washington Township — Call them dedicated. Call them loyal. Call them by their preferred nickname, the “Front Row Joes.”
Randal Thom, 58, of Lakefield, Minnesota, and Cindy Hoffman, 57, of Independence, Iowa, were the first supporters of President Donald Trump to arrive here in advance of his scheduled Saturday 7 p.m. re-election campaign rally. They arrived at 3 a.m. Friday at the Total Sports Park, Thom said.
The “Front Row Joes” moniker applies to Trump supporters who get to rallies early in hopes of getting the best spots. Thom set up a chair with a 2016 Trump Pence campaign sign and another folding chair with a handwritten sign saying “Front Row Joes for President Trump.”
Thom has been quoted or photographed for a Trump rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in June 2017 and a late March speech in Minneapolis by Vice President Mike Pence on the benefits of the recent tax cuts.
Thom, a Marine Corps veteran and an Alaskan Malamute breeder, drove 850 miles from southwest Minnesota and picked up Hoffman in Iowa along the way. . . .
“We need to get out here and support him,” Thom said about Trump. “He’s getting attacked left and right.”
Who knew the way to support the president was to attempt to attack some in the crowd "while Warren greeted people outside the venue in Storm Lake, Iowa"?
Screengrab: Thom and Munson in October last year. Via Facebook. Munson and three other Republican Minnesota state representative formed their own "New Republican House Caucus," MPR's Brian Bakst reported in December.
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This is why I don't subscribe to your paper. Get the facts to the story first. Front Row Joe was attacked first and his sign was ripped out of his hands! FAKE News
Editor's note: Bluestem has posted Thom's post-arrest Facebook video, in which he gives his explanation of the incident. We regret Ruth considers both sides of the story FAKE NEWS.
Posted by: Ruth | Jan 06, 2019 at 09:19 AM
This is how the media works! Randall did not and would never attack anyone you guys always twist it! Get your story straight before you post such nonsense!
Editor's note: Mr. Thom's behavior in Minnesota is a matter of pubic record. We recommend that Ashlee check it out at http://pa.courts.state.mn.us/ before she asserts what Mr. Thom would never do.
Posted by: Ashlee | Jan 08, 2019 at 06:44 AM