Earlier this year, Bluestem Prairie looked at Lakefield MN's own "Front Row Joe" Randall Thom and his irresponsible ways in January's Lakefield's "Front Row Joe" arrested for disorderly conduct at Elizabeth Warren event and February's Warren rally disorderly conduct guy from Lakefield in news again for livestock-chasing dog.
"Front Row Joes" are people who attend as many Trump rallies around the country as they can.
Now Thom's back in the news with the Worthington Globe report by Alyssa Sobotka about two late February and March incidents, Rural Lakefield man faces charges following barnyard slaughter:
A Lakefield man who made international headlines earlier this year following the death of his dog Donald J. Trump appeared this week in Jackson County District Court on criminal cases related to alleged continued nuisance by his Alaskan Malamute dogs.
According to court records, Randall Thom, 59, was arraigned in two criminal cases related to the death of nearly two dozen chickens, two goats and at least two cats that allegedly occurred as a result of three separate attacks from his unattended dogs. The incidents occurred after the Feb. 10 death of his Malamute named after the 45th president was rumored to have been killed in politically motivated gunfire. The death garnered more than $3,800 in donations on a GoFundMe page. . . .
As we noted in Warren rally disorderly conduct guy from Lakefield in news again for livestock-chasing dog, the dog wasn't shot because of its name, but because it had been bothering a neighbor's animals--and this wasn't the first time Thom's dogs harassed livestock, pets and people:
Alyssa Sobotka of the Forum News Service reports in Shooting death of Minnesota dog named Donald Trump wasn't over politics, sheriff says:
A southwestern Minnesota man and his dog are making national headlines after his dog, named Donald Trump, was fatally shot Sunday, Feb. 10, in an incident the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office said was legal and not politically motivated. . . .
In a Thursday interview, Thom said he’s heard negative comments around town about the dog’s name, but doesn’t necessarily believe that was the motivation behind killing the dog.
As reactions and reported rumors continued to spread, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office issued a press release late Wednesday afternoon regarding Thom’s known three-year history with the department regarding his dogs.
The office had 14 reports related to Thom’s dogs running at large on the road, in a county park, onto neighbor’s private property, biting a person who required medical attention, attacking other dogs, chasing cattle and deer, and killing goats, chickens and turkeys. Thom said that, years ago, a couple of his dogs killed four of the neighbor’s goats. Thom claimed to have paid him more than $1,000 and thought they’d come to an agreement to get along.
Thom has been served with two “Potentially Dangerous Dog Notifications” and has pending misdemeanor charges from incidents related to his dogs, the press release stated.
The release added that the sheriff’s office conducted and completed an investigation related to the circumstances of the dog’s Feb. 10 death. The investigation, the release said, found that the owner was “legally protecting their livestock on their private property at the time.” According to Minnesota State Statute, a livestock owner or caretaker may kill any dog found “chasing, injuring or worrying” livestock on land owned or controlled by the owner.
When a dog is destroying livestock, farmers don't particularly care what the not-a-good boy's name is.
One might have thought that Thom could have learned from the demise of the canine Donald Trump--as well as the earlier incidents--to keep his dogs under control.
Not so.
Sobotka reports in her latest article:
According to court documents, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office responded to a rural Lakefield farm on March 8 for a reported attack on the property’s barn animals. Upon arrival, deputies noted the slaughter that included the entire chicken coop, and noted many of the dead chickens were also dismembered. One goat was killed in the attack and almost another dozen seriously injured, all of which were allegedly covered in blood. Another goat was later euthanized by a veterinarian due to the extent of its injuries.
Deputies were advised that two dogs had been shot during the barn attack.
According to the criminal complaint, Thom allegedly retrieved the dead animals on the property on which law enforcement previously prohibited him from.
The surviving goats, some of which were pregnant, were treated with an antibiotic to prevent infection from their wounds, the complaint stated. It wasn’t immediately known whether infection was prevented.
Thom claimed that the dogs escaped from him earlier that morning due to him slipping and falling as he was trying to secure the dogs on a cable.
He faces misdemeanor charges of public nuisance, trespassing and any thing which is likely to cause injury to property related to the barnyard incident. He also faces misdemeanor charges of public nuisance and any thing which is likely to cause injury to property in relation to a Feb. 28 incident, in which six of his dogs are accused of killing at least two cats.
According to the criminal complaint, an individual woke in the night to what was categorized as loud noises. The complainant said six dogs were attacking a cat. The complainant was certain the dogs killed the cat, but wanted to wait until daylight to check.
Following the reported cat attack, the deputy contacted Thom, who claimed to have all of his dogs. Upon checking, they were nowhere to be found, and he claimed they must have escaped from his residence due to a bad lock on his door. He said he would go search for the dogs.
Another complainant called the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office within four hours of the first cat attack. The caller claimed that six dogs were attacking two of his cats. The deputy photographed two dead cats as evidence.
Bluestem has little sympathy for Thom's situation or for that of the Malamutes. None of the other animals deserved to be attacked in this manner. Perhaps as irresponsible pet owner as Thom should consider not having dogs at all--and the Malamutes can enjoy longer lives.
That might make a small part of America great again.
As we reported in January, Thom is no stranger to the courtroom:
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.
Photo: Randall Thom at last week's Trump event in Burnsville, MN. Renee Jones Schneider at the Star Tribune.
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