A man in Minneapolis has been arrested for assaulting a group of dancers from the Russian National Ballet Theater, apparently because they weren’t speaking English.

The 28-year-old man is accused of launching verbal and physical attacks that targeted not only Russians, but blacks and gay people. Five people were hurt, according to a police report.

The man threw punches and slapped people, injuring two men and a ballerina from the troupe, in town to perform “Sleeping Beauty” at Northrop Auditorium.

In other Minnesota news:

A self-described “vampyre” and former fringe political candidate faces charges for threatening a teenage girl who tried to break off their relationship by telling him she was actually a vampire hunter.

Land of 10,000 weirdos.

Brend an Kiley has worked as a child actor in New Orleans, as a member of the junior press corps at the 1988 Republican National Convention, and, for one happy April, as a bootlegger’s assistant in Nicaragua....

19 replies on “Today in Minnesota”

  7. Minnosata nice isn’t about people being genuinely nice, it is about people being artificially nice. I’ve lived in Minnesota for 11 years and most of my friends are not Minnesota natives. In order to be friends with a Minnesotan you have to be in their kindergarten class. The frigidity is not limited to the weather. Still, love the place and the crazies make it all the more entertaining.

  8. Please note that the reporter makes a “Minnesota Nice” crack in the first paragraph of the story. The exemplary professionalism of the Star Tribune at its finest.

  9. The best line… “Sharkey was supposed to appear in court here in August, but got a delay by saying he had been hurt in a pro wrestling match.”

  10. @7, it’s true. I’m a native, and I know full well that “Minnesota Nice” isn’t about being kind, it’s about passive aggression.

  11. I live in Duluth. Give us a break, we had 90 continuous hours of below-zero weather a couple weeks ago. Schools were closed for two days because of wind chill advisories. And our governor is a serious douchebag who wants to be president.

  12. @7 & @10: I lived in MN for 30 years. “MN nice” isn’t about passive aggression- it’s about a deep, deep, deep reservation, to the point where you can know someone for a decade or more and still not *really* know them. Most traditional Minnesotans would rather be polite than honest, often to a fault.

  13. @7 & 10… Sven nails it. I’ve been in MN 20+ yrs now, and that seems to be the general rule.

    I’m surprised someone at Slog didn’t pick up the story of the (mentally ill) guy that ran his car into a Cottage Grove (MN) Planned Parenthood clinic last week because ‘God told him to.’

    Perfect for this blog on so many levels.

  14. I gotta get offline, but: I was once attacked by my high school math teacher, the track and field coach, good friends with my friend’s parents, in a bar in my tiny PA hometown for not speaking English. It was him, not me–but so unexpected! And awful.

  15. @13, that was in Highland Park in St. Paul.

    Big Sven, I’ve been here for 33 years (my whole life), and I can say that Minnesota Nice = Passive Aggressive. It’s got nothing to do with being reserved. It’s got everything to do with being an asshole.

    Oh, and everyone, depite our reputation for being an arctic wasteland, it really only is cold for about 4 months out of the year. In the summer, it’s often in the 90’s and humid. We get both extremes.

  16. #7’s right on. I’ve been living in MN for a few years. He’s exactly right on what MN Nice really is.

    BTW, there are way more than 10,000 weirdo’s in this state but that guy who thinks he’s a vampire and ran for office has got to be right around the #1 weirdo in the state.

    On a more positive note we’re very excited that it’s going to get all the way up to freezing this weekend. First time in about a month.

  17. Lived in MN for 25 years and I’d have to say the passive aggressive is the way it is.

    Brutal honesty is the way i go though. Gets me in trouble a lot.

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