Late Saturday evening, the Mankato Free Press reported in St. Peter freshman lawmaker regrets rally controversy:
State Rep. Susan Akland faced her first political controversy in only her second day in office after she made an impromptu appearance Wednesday at a conservative rally at the state Capitol.
Akland, R-St. Peter, said Saturday her appearance and speech at the rally were taken out of context after the Star Tribune reported part of her speech to rallygoers where she “told the crowd she was happy to see them unmasked."
“Our actions matter and our words matter,” she said. “And I regret that my attendance at the event is viewed as furthering division. That was not my intent and not the leader that I plan to be for my district.”
The rally, called “Storm the Capitol,” took place as a companion protest with dozens of conservative rallies around the U.S. as Congress certified Electoral College results from the 2020 presidential election. Those protests include the one that turned into a riot where several thousand people stormed the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. . . .
Akland said she was invited to the gathering by Republican Rep. Glenn Gruenhagen, of Glencoe, to briefly attend in the middle of the afternoon and hadn’t heard about the event beforehand. She said she only stayed for a half-hour or so as she didn’t bring a coat or winterwear.
One video of the rally shows Akland discussing the reason she ran for office was because she felt conservative Christian values weren’t being represented in the Legislature.
She said she wasn’t certain about the rally’s purpose before she was invited, though she thought it had to do with holding Minnesota accountable for a fair election process. Conservatives claim Minnesota and other states didn’t follow election rules this past November. Numerous legal challenges to election results around thenation have been defeated in court, and many claims about election fraud have been false or unsubstantiated.
She said she realized there were some extreme speakers after she heard one of them. Akland also said she was unaware of the D.C. insurrection before the rally and didn’t find out about it until later Wednesday.
Critics jumped on the Star Tribune’s reporting that Akland told the crowd she was happy to see them unmasked, as Akland is a retired nurse married to a doctor. While Akland said she didn’t remember exactly what she told the crowd, she said that comment was taken out of context as she meant she was happy to see so many people at the rally.
Out of context? Doesn't remember? Didn't check out the rally's purpose? We've posted the image sponsor Hold The Line Minnesota used on the Facebook event page for the rally.
As for the event itself, one can watch the entire rally on Mill City Citiizen's Facebook page pair of livestream archives here and here.
Earlier today we noted in Correcting the timeline on a report about Stop The Steal; Akland constituents talk back:
Readers know from Couldn't get to DC: Akland, Drazkowski, Franson, Gruenhagen and Lucero storm MN state capitol that the Sedition Faction and newly-sworn in state representative Susan Akland, R-St. Peter, were up with the Stop the Steal crowd at the capitol.
This was the rally where news of the storming and occupation of the United States Capitol was cheered by those in front of the Minnesota state capitol.
Judging from the letters to the editor in the Mankato Free Press on Saturday, her constituents were not impressed. Nor were those who served in the legislature before her.
Bill Horton of St. Peter writes in Akland also has blood on her hands:
Rep. Susan Akland, what in the world were you thinking when you agreed to speak at the “Storm the Capitol,” rally in St. Paul Wednesday, held in conjunction with the insurrection in Washington, D.C?
The seditious rhetoric in St. Paul was the same as it was in Washington. When the Minnesota crowd was informed of the actual storming of our United States Capitol, they cheered.
Like Donald Trump, Josh Hawley and Jim Hagedorn, there is now blood on your hands. You have shamed and dishonored your constituents. You should resign immediately.
In Akland participated in dangerous publicity stunt, Claude Brew of St. Peter writes:
The voters who elected Susan Akland to the Minnesota House of Representatives sent her there to do the people's business, not to participate in cheap, dangerous publicity stunts such as the "Storm the Capitol" rally.
The desecration of the U.S. Capitol on the day of this rally should teach all of us the dangers of using inflammatory words such as "storm" the Capitol.
In addition, for nurse Aklund to tell the gathered mob that she was "happy" to see them unmasked is irresponsible in any public official, especially one trained as a medical professional.
Aklund is unfit for the office to which she was elected and should resign.
In a letter published Friday, North Mankota resident and former state representative Clark Johnson, who held Akland's 19A seat from 2015-2018, wrote in Akland's out of touch:
The Star Tribune reported on Wednesday that Rep. Susan Akland, our newly-elected state representative from St. Peter, told the crowd of pro-Trump protesters at the Minnesota Capitol that she was happy they were not wearing masks.
She is a registered nurse who says that she is pro-life. It made me think of the countless health care workers who live and work in our district that have asked us all to wear masks to help preserve lives.
Akland is clearly out of touch with her peer nurses and in conflict with her own values. She is also deeply out of touch with the hopes and values of the people she is representing.
The anti-mask behavior reminds us of how Tim Miller emailed House colleagues, staff to incorrectly argue masks aren’t effective and Mary Franson's circle of conservative friends maskless private bar party. It takes a special sort of alternative reality/facts to gain membership in the Sedition Faction, but Akland seems motivated.
Over at KEYC-TV, the station reported in the ambigious (Akland, not Brand, attended the rally) headline, Brand calls for Akland’s resignation after attending ‘Storm the Capitol’ rally:
Jeff Brand, a former member of the Minnesota House of Representatives, is calling for the immediate resignation of incoming House member Susan Akland.
In a post on Facebook, Brand cited a Tweet by Star Tribune video journalist Mark Vancleave that highlighted GOP House members who were in attendance at the “Storm the Capitol” rally in St. Paul. . . .
Brand highlighted the language that was used at the rally where one unidentified speaker said “we are at the threshold of a Civil War — we need to purge. We need to pull the weeds.”
Brand lost to Akland by 111 votes on Election Night. The Mankato Free Press reported in Akland win over Brand confirmed by recount:
State Rep.-elect Susan Akland’s victory over Rep. Jeff Brand has been confirmed following a recount of more than 23,000 ballots cast in the Minnesota House District 19A, which includes North Mankato and St. Peter.
Brand, a first-term Democrat from St. Peter, trailed Akland by 111 votes following the initial count of the Nov. 3 election results. The recount he requested increased Akland’s vote total by three to 11,624 and boosted Brand’s tally by six to 11,516 — a 49% to 48.5% victory for the St. Peter Republican.
Brand conceded shortly after Secretary of State Steve Simon announced the results of the recount, the paper reported.
The Mankato Free Press article concludes:
Former Rep. Clark Johnson, the North Mankato DFLer who retired in 2018 after representing District 19A, said it’s still early for Akland to learn the ropes at the Legislature. He publicly took issue with Akland’s perceived mask comments in a letter to the editor earlier this week but said he was glad to hear she supported the mask mandate given her history as a health professional.
Still, he said he was concerned over Akland’s choice to join far-right lawmakers in speaking at the rally. Johnson said people in District 19A are more moderate and won’t respect officials who support extreme positions. While he acknowledged being a lawmaker has a difficult learning curve, he said Akland will likely have to learn fast her office is a “very visible job.”
“It requires you to be thoughtful about what you’re saying, what you’re doing, who you’re associating with. She’ll learn soon enough,” Johnson said.
Akland said she’s been frustrated by the response to her rally appearance.
“I’m sort of a peacemaker so I don’t like this, this conflict,” she said.
Who knew peacemaking didn't involve conflict, but depended on ignorance of circumstances.
It's hard to find a picture of anyone wearing a mask in the photos she uploaded or shared from other sites and loaded to her timeline of her Facebook page. Here's one.
Indeed, we've not the first to notice this. On one post in which Akland wishes President Trump a speedy recovery from COVID-19, there's this comment:
Yes it is a serious disease. Which is why I want to know why you and your campaign are out knocking on doors and talking to voters without a mask on. I expected more from a Registered Nurse.
It's not like the St. Paul rally was the first time anyone noticed the lack of masks.
Related posts:
- Correcting the timeline on a report about Stop The Steal; Akland constituents talk back
- Minnesota House sedition faction reply to Protest and Dissent letter, defend attack on state voters
- Couldn't get to DC: Akland, Drazkowski, Franson, Gruenhagen and Lucero storm MN state capitol
- From the Journal of the House: Eight members protest & dissent those who signed Paxton letter
Image: The Facebook invite for the rally.
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