November 23, 2004 - MPR’s Marisa Helms reports that Chai Vang remains a bit of a mystery to many in the Hmong community…and even to his neighbors. They say they've never met Vang, and rarely even spoke to him or saw him. Some wonder if the shootings could have been prevented if they had reached out more to Vang and his family.
November 23, 2004 - MPR’s Brandt Williams reports that court documents filed show the suspect in the six killings in Wisconsin, a 36-year-old Hmong immigrant, told authorities he was called racial slurs and fired upon before he says shot back. Hmong leaders in the Twin Cities gathered today to condemn the shootings and express sympathy for the victims. But some say racial tension between white and Hmong hunters is common.
November 25, 2004 - The shooting deaths of six hunters in northwestern Wisconsin has prompted a complex set of reactions - perhaps nowhere more than in the Twin Cities Hmong community. The alleged shooter, Chai Vang, is a Hmong immigrant who lives in St. Paul. When the first reports of the incident came out, local Hmong leaders cautioned against making Vang's ethnicity an issue.
November 29, 2004 - Chuck Quirmbach of Wisconsin Public Radio reports that formal charges may come for the St. Paul man accused of killing six hunters and wounding two others in Wisconsin. In Milwaukee, Chai Vang's defense lawyers talked about their hope for a fair trial in Wisconsin's Northwoods. They also brought forward Vang's eldest daughter to talk about her father.
December 29, 2004 - Mainstreet Radio's Tom Robertson reports that Federal agents at the U.S.-Canadian border crossing in International Falls have a new tool to enhance homeland security. Customs officials have begun using digital fingerprint technology to verify the identity of some foreign visitors.
February 8, 2005 - MPR’s Brandt Williams report that St. Paul Mayor Randy Kelly confirms that as far as he knows his aide Sia Lo is the target of a federal corruption investigation. The mayor made the announcement in response to a Star Tribune article that named Lo.
February 17, 2005 - Morning Edition’s Cathy Wurzer talks with Bob Ingrassia, a reporter with the St. Paul Pioneer Press, about allegations against Sia Lo, a senior aide to St. Paul Mayor Randy Kelly. Lo is under investigation by the FBI for allegedly demanding a bribe from a local businessman. The allegations involve city approval for a new Hmong funeral home.
March 22, 2005 - Mainstreet Radio's Dan Gunderson reports from Bemidji, where ten people are dead after a shooting rampage on the Red Lake Indian Reservation in northern Minnesota. At least 14 people were reportedly wounded in the shooting which happened yesterday afternoon. Tribal police closed the reservation to reporters late yesterday. Red Lake police and the FBI are working together to investigate the shootings.
April 20, 2005 - All Things Considered’s Tom Crann interviews Rick Linsk, reporter at the St. Paul Pioneer Press, about Vang Pao Foundation. The non-profit foundation named for General Vang Pao, a leader in the Hmong community, faces a law suit from the office of State Attorney General Mike Hatch. The suit alleges that the Vang Pao Foundation engaged in questionable spending, and bypassed state charity laws.
June 9, 2005 - MPR’s Bob Kelleher reports that a Sawyer County judge heard pre-trial motions, setting the stage for the September date on Chai Vang's murder trial which will be held in Hayward, Wisconsin. Vang is the Twin Cities Hmong man charged in the shooting deaths of six Wisconsin deer hunters last November, and the wounding of two others.