In early January, Bluestem posted about how Lakefield's "Front Row Joe" [was] arrested for disorderly conduct at Elizabeth Warren event. We noted that Randall/Randal (it shows up either version in the registry of court records that can be searched at the had something of a record.

He's back on social media and in the news following the fatal shooting of his dog, Donald Trump.

As much as Thom tried to milk the situation, the dog's death had nothing to do with its name, but rather its activity: attacking a neighbor's livestock. As our earlier research discovered, Thom had a 2017 minor offense on his record for a dog killing livestock, as well as earlier citations for pets at large.

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. The news of the death of Randall Thom’s Siberian Husky named after the president began spreading Monday when Thom took to his personal Facebook page to share a photo of him lying on the ground next to the dead dog, which had visible gunshot wounds. The 3-year-old dog, Thom claims, was shot four times by his neighbor and then suffered his death in a cornfield a mile and a half from his property in rural Lakefield. The neighbor has not been publicly identified. A variety of reactions surfaced across social media — particularly after a GoFundMe page was created to solicit donations. The page — which had garnered approximately $3,600 from more than 115 donors by Thursday afternoon — made the claim Thom’s neighbor shot the dog because of its name.

The page appeals to Thom's veteran status with the title, Military VET’s Dog Named “Donald Trump” Shot Dead, as if that negates the livestock owner's right to protect one's property or Thom's responsibility to control his pets. The story continues:

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.

As for the pity party for the dead dog after Thom posted the photo of the bloody dog, we image the dead goats, chickens and turkey from earlier attacks by his dogs wouldn't look much better. Moreover, Thom has had many years of conflict over his dogs biting a person, chasing cattle and deer, attacking other dogs, and killing livestock. The dog's death isn't politics--it's another person protecting his or her property. Indeed, this is one of the arguments made by those who value the Second Amendment.

We posted back in January after a reader complained that Thom wouldn't harm anyone. Here was our update on that:

Has Thom gotten into trouble before? The claim by a reader in our comments section that " 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. 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.

Those visiting Thom's Facebook page (here's his other Facebook page, always a good sign-- on he talks about the other account being put in Facebook jail) can read hundreds of comments about how the neighbor should be locked up or worse for protecting his property. That's not how the law works. That's not how anything works.

We also have to wonder who heads to the Cities--for whatever reason--and leaves his dog outside and loose in a February with snow--especially when he's interacted with law enforcement about his dogs' behavior? We never had an ill-behaved dog growing up, but leaving our dog loose when my family was away was simply not done, whatever the season.

Update: There's a third Facebook page for this gentle soul here. As one individual comments:" Anthony Colin How many fake profiles do you have snowflake?." [end update]



Screengrab: Thom and his fanboy Rep. Jeremy Munson, R-Lake Crystal, in October last year. Via Facebook.

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