In Corrected: Jeremy Munson on April's Liberate MN protest at governor's residence, we apologized for reporting that Lake Crystal New Republican state representative Jeremy Monson was at the event, however much reasonable people--friend and foe--might have concluded otherwise at the time.
A sharp-eyed reader who wished to remain anonymous and out of the fray sent us the Glenn Stubbe/Startribune photo at the top of this post. The source thought that the individual in the yellow t-shirt over a black long sleeved shirt in the left front under the large American flag might be Representative Munson.
We couldn't find the photo online, but did find a Stubbe photo accompanying Patrick Condon's April 18 article, Trump-backed rally urges Gov. Tim Walz to 'Liberate Minnesota' with a caption stating "Protesters began to gather outside the Minnesota Governor’s Residence an hour before the protest was scheduled to begin. Liberate Minnesota and other groups opposed to Gov. Tim Walz’s stay home orders protested outside the governor’s residence in St. Paul."
Some of the same idividuals and objects are in this photo, taken an hour before the protest (and the Minnesota House floor session) officially began:
We contacted Representative Munson via Twitter Direct Message to ask if that were he in the top photo. His response:
[Y]es that's me. I was there from about 9-11 and left, changed clothes and was on the house floor before noon. There were a few dozen there before I left, but it wasn't the 500-1000 that were there for the actual protest. I support the reopen movement and especially rejected the idea that government should be deeming 73% of workers essential and the rest as non-essential.
So there you have it. Representative Munson correctly stated that he could not have been at official beginning of the protest at noon and on the floor of the Minnesota House when it convened at noon.
He was, however, part of the early bird special, enough to get his picture in the paper. Given this Facebook picture and its caption, and his comments posted after noon, it's clear reasonable people might indeed conclude that Munson was at the protest, if they weren't already watching the House session.
Moreover, Munson's earlier Twitter statement mispresents the rally as "support of healthcare workers" while it was clearly branded as "Liberate Minnesota":
I attended three rallies at the Governor's mansion. This one was in support of healthcare workers who were laid off due to walz's shutdown of clinics. I wasn't present for the protest, I met with the organizers while they were setting up and was on the House floor by noon.
Those who placed Munson at the scene weren't making this up
Images: Explained in text.
Related posts:
- Corrected: Jeremy Munson on April's Liberate MN protest at governor's residence
- MN Reformer: Minnesota House Speaker’s office says BCA, Public Safety department leading investigation into St. Paul rally
- Emily Gruenhagen missed something about that Storm The Capitol rally in St. Paul
- Unmasked, part 3: Minneapolis Star Tribune fills in Storm the Capitol context for Susan Akland
- Digest: Murdock Asatru Folk Assembly news in West Central Tribune and New York Times
- Unmasked, part 2: letters condemning Akland's Storm the Capitol speech poured into Free Press
- Unmasked: Susan Akland's non-apology apology about storming the Minnesota state capitol
- Correcting the timeline on a report about Stop The Steal; Akland constituents talk back
- Tim Miller emails House colleagues, staff to incorrectly argue masks aren’t effective
- Minnesota House sedition faction reply to Protest and Dissent letter, defend attack on state voters
- Couldn't get to DC: Akland, Drazkowski, Franson, Gruenhagen, Lucero & Munson storm MN state capitol
- From the Journal of the House: Eight members protest & dissent those who signed Paxton letter
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