We've got to hand it to the conservative online site Alpha News. In order to squeeze the recent shooting of a highly respected young Waseca police officer Arik Matson into Minnesota Republicans' narrative frame that portrays the Evil Metro as a hotbed of crime, it's invented a new neigborhood: the "greater Twin Cities community."
John Lucke reports in Police Officer is recovering with support from community after being shot in head:
Officer Arik Matson of Waseca, MN, is receiving support from many different groups in the greater Twin Cities community after he was shot in the head while responding to a report of a suspicious person on Monday night. . . .
Waseca High School’s theater is using the proceeds from a play into a way to give back to the officer and his family. Additionally, there is also a Go Fund Me set up to support the medical bills and other expenses for the Matson family: https://www.gofundme.com/f/arik-matson-family… Arik and his wife Megan have two young daughters and have been a staple in the Waseca community for many years.
A prayer service for Officer Matson’s recovery was held at Crossroads Church in Albert Lea last Thursday. The church even an acknowledged and prayed for the suspect charged with shooting Matson in the face. The prayer meeting was held specifically in Albert Lea because Arik grew up there and then went on to serve as a police officer in the city with his dad, Tim, who is now retired. . . .
Officer Matson's shooting is indeed an awful thing for the fabric of the small Southern Minnesota towns, as KARE 11 report, Friends describe injured Waseca police officer as a 'really good guy', illustrates:
Arik Matson's dedication to community goes beyond his work as a police officer for Waseca, a role he's held since 2013.
The 32-year-old is also a volunteer firefighter for the town of Freeborn and serves on Freeborn's city council.
"He's just a really, really involved person," said Freeborn Fire Chief, Steve Seipp. "Outgoing, always willing to help. He’s one of those kind of people even if he meets a stranger, he’s able to talk to them." . . .
t's a theme echoed by people throughout Freeborn, where Matson has been a volunteer firefighter for about seven years. The city clerk also called Matson "very involved" while speaking about his work as a city council member, a position he's held since 2018 when he was appointed to fill a vacancy. He was then elected to his seat in 2019. . .
Matson is also well respected in Waseca. In addition to serving on the Waseca Police Department's patrol unit and drug investigative unit, Matson is also a DARE officer. That work brings him to Waseca Intermediate School. . ..
And Matson is improving, the Associated Press reported Thursday in Shot in head, Waseca police officer is fighting to sustain ‘miracle’:
A southern Minnesota police officer who was shot in the head has shown small signs in his fight for recovery, his pastor said.
Waseca Officer Arik Matson remains hospitalized in critical condition at North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale.
Matson was gravely wounded Jan. 6 as he and three officers responded to a call about a suspicious person roaming backyards in Waseca, a city of about 9,400 located 65 miles south of the Twin Cities.
"Greater Twin Cities"? We don't think so.
Matson's other stomping grounds, Albert Lea and Freeborn, Minnesota, are in Freeborn County. The county is located on the Iowa border. Albert Lea and Freeborn are represented in the Minnesota by Peggy Bennett, R-Albert Lea, for cats' sake. Waseca itself is represented by John Petersburg in the state House. All are in Minnesota's First Congressional District, a seat now filled by Jim Hagedorn.
In 2015, Nick Magrino discussed the question, "what is the metro, anyway?" in Measuring the Minneapolis-St. Paul Metro Area, and Getting Real with the Map at Streets, from which we grabbed the image at the top of this post--in one definition, Rice County is metro and some parts of it are in CD1.
However, the Met Council defines The Twin Cities region as:
The Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area is a thriving community of nearly 3 million people, in 7 counties and 182 communities, encompassing nearly 3,000 square miles.
That would be this map from Magrino's article:
Nope, by any rational definition, Albert Lea, Freeborn and Waseca aren't part of the Twin Cities. Not on the Census Reporter's map, Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metro Area, either.
Nor do we see Waseca--where Officer Matson's shooting occurred--in Minnesota Republicans say they’re going to make urban crime an issue. Here’s the data. The Minnesota Reformer's Rilyn Eischen reports:
Minnesota Republicans are taking a cue from President Donald Trump ahead of the 2020 election by raising an incendiary issue: Urban crime.
Although there’s not a single Republican in the state Legislature representing either St. Paul or Minneapolis, GOP leadership are already signaling they will try to leverage fear of urban crime to win support in the suburbs. That’s where they need victories to hold their narrow state Senate majority and win back the House after a metro-wide drubbing in 2018. . . .
Alpha News has gone one better to secure this talking point in a shareable post: defining Southern Minnesota as part of the greater "Twin Cities community" where the shooting happened.
For some of us boomers, there's an old Dakota word for all of this, metro and rural: Minnesota.
Maps: two version of the Minneapolis-St.Paul metro area, via Measuring the Minneapolis-St. Paul Metro Area, and Getting Real with the Map.
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