Content advisory: this article contains graphic details about sexual abuse
The Minnesota Star Tribune published an editorial by columnist Rochelle Olson praising Gov. Tim Walz for standing by his vote to pardon Tou Lue Vang, a man convicted of repeatedly sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl.
In the Minnesota Star Tribune’s weekly “Cheers & Jeers” column, Olson offered a “Cheers to Gov. Tim Walz,” arguing the governor “refused to back down” from criticism surrounding the pardon.
Perhaps the most striking passage of the editorial came when Olson defended Vang’s pardon by comparing his crimes — repeatedly sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl and ejaculating into her mouth — to the Jan. 6 Capitol protesters.
“Vang’s actions 20 years ago were awful, but so were the violent protests at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and those folks received presidential pardons,” Olson states.
Olson has worked for the Star Tribune for 26 years.
Walz recently defended his pardon of the child sex offender when questioned by a reporter following Vang’s deportation.
“Did that make us any safer? Did that make the children that are left behind any more stable? Did it improve the idea that we can’t all be judged by our worst day,” Walz said.
Like Walz, Olson also points to a letter from Vang’s victim supporting his pardon. However, that letter was not included in the publicly released version of Vang’s clemency application.
Instead, it was later provided to media outlets by the Walz administration after the pardon drew widespread criticism.
According to the criminal complaint, Vang later married the victim’s sister, making the victim a member of his extended family.
The Star Tribune editorial also omitted several key facts that fueled the public controversy of Vang’s pardon.
As Alpha News previously reported, Vang admitted to repeatedly sexually assaulting the fourth-grade girl over a period of more than two years. According to the criminal complaint, he told investigators the child “should be arrested also because she was as much at fault.”
Perhaps most shocking, despite pleading guilty to first-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a child under 13, Vang never served a day in prison. Instead, he received a stayed 144-month sentence and was placed on probation.
Vang’s application for a pardon cited concerns that his conviction made him subject to deportation.
“Without the protection a pardon can provide, I face the very real risk of detention and deportation,” Vang wrote.
The Minnesota Board of Pardons — consisting of Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison and Chief Justice Natalie Hudson — voted unanimously to grant the pardon.
Just weeks later, the Trump administration announced that Vang had been deported from the United States after Secretary of State Marco Rubio revoked his legal status.
“Americans must never be forced by their elected leaders to live alongside foreign sex criminals who have no right to begin with to reside in our country,” said Rubio.
U.S. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer blasted the Star Tribune for “cheering on Tim Walz protecting an illegal alien monster who raped a 10 year old girl.”
“No one should read this depraved rag,” he wrote on X. “They are sick.”
Jenna Gloeb
Jenna Gloeb is an Edward R. Murrow Award-winning journalist, media producer, public speaker, and screenwriter. Most recently, she worked as a reporter and on-air host for CCX Media. Jenna is a Minnesota native and resides in the Twin Cities with her husband, son, daughter, and two dogs.
