politics
Minnesota Board Grants Clemency to Laotian National Convicted of Child Rape; Federal Authorities Later Remove Him
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz joined the state attorney general and chief justice on June 10 to grant clemency to Tou Lue Vang, a Laotian national convicted of repeatedly raping a child between 2002 and 2004. The decision drew criticism after a Minnesota Star Tribune columnist defended it without noting the victim was a minor. Vang was deported to Laos on July 10.
Jul 20, 2:50 PM·1m read3 sources
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Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and two other state officials voted on June 10 to pardon Tou Lue Vang, a Laotian national convicted of repeatedly raping a child between 2002 and 2004. The three-member Board of Pardons granted clemency days before Vang was scheduled for deportation.
It did not mention that the victim was ten years old or that the assaults spanned two years. The columnist compared Vang’s crimes to the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot and noted that some participants received presidential pardons. Critics on social media called the comparison inaccurate.
A spokesperson for the newspaper said the outlet publishes “a wide range of opinions across the political spectrum” and that the columnist agreed with the unanimous pardon.
10, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Vang had been removed to Laos. Rubio stated that Vang had “admitted to committing heinous crimes against a 10-year-old girl in Minnesota.” Walz later questioned the deportation, asking whether removing Vang made children “any more stable.”
““The governor refused to back down from his vote to pardon a Hmong man convicted of felony sexual assault in 2006.””
““Vang has now been removed from our country and will never pose a threat to any American ever again.””
