SOUTH DAKOTA ATTORNEY GENERAL SAYS OFFICER INVOLVED SHOOTING IN YANKTON WAS JUSTIFIED
PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley announced the results of the Division of Criminal Investigation into the officer involved shooting in Yankton that happened on December 5th.
Quoting Jackley from his announcement, “This individual refused officer commands and held two firearms in the direction of the officers, there was a clear and present danger to law enforcement on scene and to the public, justifying and requiring their actions.” End quote
The incident started when Yankton Police were notified that 40 year old Andrew Jondahl was sitting in his pickup truck in the Yankton High School parking lot after he had been escorted out of an event in the school. The authorities were informed that he appeared to be intoxicated, was making threats of self-harm, and held a long gun in his lap.
After police arrived, Jondahl refused officer commands to place his hands outside of the truck window twice. When he finally did exit the vehicle, he was holding two shotguns in his hands, facing the officers in a manner where he could have fired at the officers. The two officers fired 14 .223-caliber rounds at Jondahl, who received four non life-threatening gunshot wounds. No one else was injured.
Jondahl tested positive for alcohol with a blood alcohol content level of .152 percent. The two officers tested negative for alcohol and drugs.
Officers recovered two shotguns, both with live shells in the magazine tubes, and one weapon had a live shell in the chamber. Also discovered in the truck were two napkins with handwriting on them including one statement that said, “I will kill them until they kill me.”
Charges are pending against Jondahl, who is presumed innocent under the U.S. Constitution. The case will be prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office and the Yankton County State’s Attorney’s Office.
The Attorney General and DCI thank the South Dakota Forensic Laboratory, the Yankton Police Department, and the Yankton Sheriff’s Office for their cooperation and assistance.
This is the fifth Officer Involved Shooting in South Dakota during 2024.
NEBRASKA GOVERNOR JIM PILLEN HOSPITALIZED AFTER FALL FROM HORSE
LINCOLN, NE (AP) – Gov. Jim Pillen was transported to the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha on Sunday following a fall from his horse.
According to a press release from the governor’s office, the incident happened while Pillen was riding on horseback with family members. Pillen was bucked off a new horse and was injured.
The governor was transported to Columbus Community Hospital, and out of an abundance of caution, was then transported to the Nebraska Medical Center.
According his office, the governor is expected to remain at the hospital for several days. The governor is alert and is in continuous touch with his team.
An update from doctors at Nebraska Medicine about Pillen’s treatment status and recovery will be provided on Monday at 10 a.m.
DISCOVERY OF OLD CHEMICALS CLOSES USD CAMPUS IN SIOUX FALLS
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (The Dakota Scout) – The discovery of old, unused research chemicals at a university in northwest Sioux Falls that had turned explosive led to a campus-wide closure Thursday morning.
The University of South Dakota announced the planned evacuation at its Sioux Falls campus near Marion Avenue and 60th Street North after expired peroxide-forming chemicals were identified earlier this week in its Science & Technology Building.
The compounds can become explosive when the formation of crystals occurs, according to the university, which added that the crystals — like those discovered at the Sioux Falls facility — react to friction and shock.
“Following confirmation that peroxide crystals had formed from the chemicals, USD began working with a hazardous materials disposal crew to plan for and execute this disposal,” read a news release issued from USD’s Vermillion headquarters.
A chemical hazmat team informed the university there was no immediate risk if the chemicals remain still, but transporting them to a disposal site brought risk.
Because risk of a reaction would be limited to the disposal route, USD had initially decided to close only the Science & Technology Building during the disposal process, but instead opted to close the entirety of the campus.
“Out of an abundance of caution and for the safety of the responders, the university made the decision to close the USD – Sioux Falls campus,” according to the school, also noting the closure did not disrupt any academic programming.
The campus re-opened Thursday afternoon.
FIRST CASE OF AVIAN INFLUENZA IN A HUMAN REPORTED IN IOWA
DES MOINES, IA – The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services has confirmed the first human case of avian influenza in the state.
The affected individual was exposed to infected poultry while working with a commercial flock in northwest Iowa.
At this time the person has reported mild symptoms, they have also received appropriate treatment and they are recovering.
The case was identified through testing at the state hygienic laboratory and confirmed by the centers for disease control and prevention.
As of Friday the CDC has reported 64 confirmed cases of H5 H-P-A I across nine states. The majority of the exposures are linked to infected poultry or dairy cows.
There is no evidence that human-to-human transmission of the H5 highly pathogenic avian influenza is occurring in the United States.
TRUMP ELECTION OFFERS POSSIBLE REPRIEVE FOR FIVE SOUTH DAKOTANS INVOLVED IN JANUARY 6TH RIOT
SOUTH DAKOTA (John Hult / South Dakota Searchlight) – Amy Willis says she’s not a criminal.
When she entered the U.S. Capitol with a crowd of protesters who’d been urged by Donald Trump to “stop the steal” of the 2020 election on Jan. 6, 2021, she claimed it felt more like a tour than a group of insurrectionists.
“I didn’t know it was an insurrection until I saw it on the news the next day,” Willis said in a recent interview with South Dakota Searchlight.
In July, Willis was indicted on misdemeanor charges, including knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building. The Sioux Falls herbalist became one of at least five South Dakotans and around 1,600 total people charged in federal court for their behavior that day — a group of people President-elect Trump has vowed to pardon upon returning to office next month.
A court document paints a starkly different picture than Willis’ description. A photo of her in the crowd before she entered the Capitol shows her amid a throng of people, some of whom held Trump flags and Gadsen flags — emblazoned with a coiled snake and the phrase “don’t tread on me” — or American flags. A puff of what appears to be smoke billows over the crowd. Another image from inside the Capitol shows Willis “appearing to film with her cell phone as rioters continued to pour in through the door and windows,” the document says.
Willis was allegedly part of a group that pushed past a police line, “forcing the officers to retreat.” The document also says Capitol police were actively attempting to push back the rioters.
Willis twice pulled away from an officer who’d attempted to remove her, the document says. She told Searchlight her resistance was a trauma response tied to a physically abusive relationship, and said she was planning to leave the building as instructed.
South Dakotans charged for alleged insurrectionist behavior
At least four South Dakotans have pending charges for their alleged actions on Jan. 6, and another South Dakotan has been sentenced.
Trump has referred repeatedly to Jan. 6 rioters as political prisoners and otherwise downplayed the riot, where four people in the crowd died and more than 100 police officers were injured. One officer died the day after the riot, and four others committed suicide within seven months. Once in office, Trump will have the authority to pardon each alleged rioter, including those like Willis whose cases are still working their way through the federal court system.
Judges have granted delays for at least two Jan. 6 defendants based on their argument that Trump might issue blanket pardons, Politico reported in November. Trump own’s potential criminal liability — he was indicted for his alleged efforts to subvert the 2020 election — have mostly dissolved in the wake of his election victory.
On Thursday, a judge signed an order allowing a Kansas City man who pleaded guilty to Jan. 6-related charges to attend Trump’s inauguration next month.
In a televised Dec. 8 interview with NBC News, Trump promised to “be acting very quickly” to pardon Jan. 6 defendants.
Newell man faces nine counts
Darrell Goins of Newell is charged with nine counts, including engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly and dangerous weapon — listed as a “20-ounce plastic soft drink bottle” in his indictment — as well as disorderly and disruptive conduct, entering and remaining in a restricted building and assaulting or impeding certain officers.
The Goins case opened in May. He was arrested and released on his own recognizance that month. He’s pleaded not guilty to all charges, and a judge granted a continuance for his case in a virtual hearing held Dec. 17. His next hearing is set to take place eight days after Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration.
The FBI found Goins after getting a tip in mid-2022 identifying him in images and videos from Jan. 6, according to court documents. An agent interviewed a former coworker of Goins, who identified him in photos showing him raising a fist on the Capitol’s West Plaza “at the very front of the crowd, standing directly in front of the line of the U.S. Capitol Police.”
The court documents include a photo of a man, alleged to be Goins, tossing a plastic bottle at an officer, and say that “the bottle thrown by Goins appears to have narrowly missed” the officer’s head. The documents allege that Goins “physically engaged” with several officers on the way into the Capitol building alongside other rioters, and that a special agent with the Capitol police “recalled Goins actively rushing at the police line.”
They also allege that he used an officer’s riot shield to push into law enforcement while standing in front of a police line. He spent about 16 minutes inside the Capitol building before leaving, the documents say.
Calls placed by South Dakota Searchlight to numbers listed for Goins were not returned.
Bench warrant issued for Rapid City defendant
Calls to numbers listed for William George Knight of Rapid City also went unreturned.
Knight is charged with eight counts, including civil disorder, assaulting, impeding or resisting officers with a deadly and dangerous weapon — “a large metal sign,” according to his indictment — as well as disorderly conduct and entering and remaining in a restricted building.
A judge issued a bench warrant for Knight’s arrest in early October for failure to appear at a status hearing. U.S. Marshals Service spokesman Brady McCarron told South Dakota Searchlight via email that the “only status” they have for Knight is that he is out on bond.
The oldest open case involving a South Dakotan is that of Rapid City’s James Haffner.
Haffner moved to Rapid City from the Seattle area after Jan. 6. He was arrested three years ago in Rapid City on charges of assaulting, resisting or impeding law enforcement, violent and unlawful entry of restricted buildings, obstructing law enforcement during a civil disorder and entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
Haffner’s case is still pending in D.C. district court. His next case status hearing is scheduled for Jan. 23.
When reached by South Dakota Searchlight, Haffner wrote that talking to the outlet would not be “in my best interests.”
“From my perspective, most journalists and news sources are scumbags,” Haffner wrote.
Sentenced from South Dakota
Like Haffner, rapper and Jan. 6 defendant Billy Knutson is an out-of-state transplant.
Knutson, who goes by the name “Playboythebeast,” moved to Mitchell from North Carolina in 2021. His lyrical themes are heavily political — he has songs called “Let’s Go Brandon (fjb)” and “Kyle Rittenhouse” — and they often reference his affiliation with the Proud Boys, a far-right group whose founder once sued the Southern Poverty Law Center for labeling it a hate group.
The former song is a coded insult of President Joe Biden. The latter song is a reference to the real Kyle Rittenhouse, who shot and killed a Black Lives Matter protester in Wisconsin in 2020. Rittenhouse was later acquitted of homicide charges on self-defense grounds.
“Free all my homies from the 6th that whole s— was a scam,” Knutson raps in that song, which also includes the line “AR-15 at my side like I’m Kyle Rittenhouse.”
Once the rapping ends, Knutson uses his speaking voice to end the song with a shoutout to the Proud Boys founder, and another spoken shoutout to Jan. 6 defendants.
Knutson served six months in federal prison on Jan. 6-related charges.
In a sentencing memorandum filed in Knutson’s case, U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves of the D.C. district pointed to Knutson’s lyrics as a reason to give him a more significant sentence than some of his fellow Jan. 6 defendants. The document includes screenshots of Knutson’s music videos, including one in which the rapper holds up finger guns under a shower of bullet-shaped graphics.
Knutson pleaded guilty to one count of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds. He released songs about the riot before and after that.
“Knutson’s participation in a riot that actually succeeded in halting the Congressional election-certification, combined with his violent criminal history, his celebration and endorsement of the violence on January 6, and his public condoning of future violence — including gun violence — renders a significant jail sentence both necessary and appropriate in this case,” the memo reads.
The sentencing memorandum notes that Knutson moved to Mitchell because the Proud Boys’ state headquarters was located there.
Knutson was released from federal custody on March 31, 2023. Messages sent to Knutson’s artist contact page were not returned.
Willis hopeful for pardon
Willis, the Sioux Falls herbalist, didn’t stay up to hear the results of the presidential election on Nov. 5. But when she awoke the next morning to learn that Trump had won a second term, she was relieved on two levels.
First, she was pleased that her preferred candidate had emerged victorious. Second, she was hopeful that she might avoid being forced to stand trial.
Her interview with Searchlight marked the first time Willis had spoken to the media. It’s also “one of the first times” she’s admitted being in the Capitol that day, she said, though she’s been contacted by law enforcement and appeared virtually in court a few times since being indicted earlier this year.
“They have a lot of pictures of me anyway,” Willis said. “Now Trump’s in office, so that’s why I’m OK with this.”
Her next hearing is scheduled to take place virtually on Jan. 3.
GOVERNOR NOEM’S BUDGET CUTS WOULD REAISE DUAL CREDIT COSTS FOR STUDENTS
PIERRE, S.D. (Makenzie Huber / South Dakota Searchlight) – South Dakota high school students will pay 50% more to take dual credit courses if legislators adopt a budget proposal by Republican Gov. Kristi Noem.
Currently, students pay one-third of the cost per credit hour, $50.84, while the state pays the rest. Noem’s proposal would split the cost in half, with the student and state each paying about $76 per credit hour. The state would spend around $1 million less on the program annually.
Noem is proposing the policy change in her budget for the next fiscal year. It’s one of numerous budget cuts she’s requesting as sales tax revenues decline.
Yet, in the education portion of her budget, she’s also proposing $4 million in new spending to create education savings accounts that would provide public funds for families to pay for private school tuition or for the costs of alternative instruction such as homeschooling.
The state Department of Education responded with a statement to South Dakota Searchlight questions about the proposed dual credit rate increase.
“The governor’s proposed budget will continue to allow motivated students the privilege to earn college credits at a reduced rate,” the statement said.
Education professionals worry that the increase would burden families and hamper their ability to enroll students. The program benefits not only them but the state as well, introducing students to higher education options at public universities and technical colleges.
There were 4,213 students enrolled in the public university portion of the program during fiscal year 2024, according to the governor’s budget proposal. There were 1,849 students enrolled in the technical college program. Classes are offered through all six public universities and four technical colleges throughout the state. Students can attend on-campus or online.
The program not only allows students to get a head start on their degree, but increases their confidence to succeed in higher education, said Ashley Seeklander, government relations chair for the South Dakota School Counseling Association and a counselor in the Aberdeen school district, in an emailed statement. Dual credit students have higher GPAs and retention rates once they enter college, according to an annual report on the program.
“As school counselors, we see firsthand the positive impact that the dual credit program has on student success,” Seeklander said.
If students forgo the dual credit program because of cost but still go on to attend a South Dakota university, they’ll pay even more. The average credit hour cost is $300 for a typical college student.
The South Dakota Board of Regents oversees the state’s public universities. Executive Director Nathan Lukkes said connecting with high school students before they apply to out-of-state colleges is an advantage for those institutions. About 60% of dual credit students enroll at South Dakota public universities upon graduation.
He hopes Noem’s proposed fee increase for students doesn’t hinder their ability to take the classes.
“The last thing we want is finances standing in the way of education,” Lukkes said.
He added that he expects enrollment in the program to level off in the coming years as high school enrollment decreases.
System director talks other proposed cuts
Noem also proposed another $2 million “operational” cut to the regents’ budget and a $9 million cut to the system’s building maintenance and repair fund.
The system has not decided how a $2 million cut would be implemented.
“Our goal is to minimize the impact to students — we want to continue to provide quality education at an affordable price,” Lukkes said. “We don’t want any cuts to hinder or alter that going forward.”
Regent Pam Roberts, a former South Dakota Republican Party chairwoman and former secretary of the South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation, called the maintenance cut “shortsighted” at the board’s December meeting.
Lukkes added that it’s common to budget 2-4% of a building’s replacement value for maintenance and repair.
“We’re well positioned at the moment,” Lukkes said. “The challenge is if you take $9 million a year out of the funding stream and it’s not replaced very quickly, we’re good for a year or two. Five, 10, 15, 20 years down the road, you risk your infrastructure failing, falling into a state of disrepair and ultimately costing you more money than if you maintained it.”
