Minnesota’s ‘nice’ culture is now a sanctuary for transnational gangs and drugs

Conservative Review: The North Star State is known for its “Minnesota nice” culture and the small city of Stillwater is known to be quiet and peaceful. The last thing town residents expected was to find a body of a badly injured woman at the hands of an illegal alien gang member lying on one of their streets, but that is exactly what happened on Sunday, June 9, according to the 39-year-old victim. It’s part of a broader problem plaguing the state thanks to the largest metropolitan area being a sanctuary for repeat criminal alien offenders who are incentivized to return after being deported.

Last week, thanks to the recovery of the victim and court documents, local Twin Cities media has gotten the background on the woman found lying in the street in a pool of blood by an Uber driver on June 9. According to the criminal complaint, 32-year-old Angel Sardina-Padilla and 23-year-old Luis Alfredo Cortez-Mendoza, both allegedly members of the Surenos 13 street gang, held the female victim captive in her St. Paul apartment on June 8 and threatened her and her roommates with a metal tool heated up over the stove.

The pair of gang members then drove her around until the next morning when Sardina-Padilla, the alleged ringleader, ordered Mendoza to shoot her. He fired three shots, one striking her in the chest, knocking her down in the street until she was found by the Uber driver at 2:38 a.m. on June 9.

Mendoza reportedly told police that he feared he’d be killed for not following orders when he was arrested on June 10. Sardina-Padilla was arrested June 18. Bail for both of them was set at $2 million in separate court appearances. Mendoza was charged with attempted first-degree murder for the benefit of a gang, attempted second-degree murder for the benefit of a gang and kidnapping for the benefit of a gang. Sardina-Padilla was charged with aiding and abetting on all three counts.

The first question that popped in my mind when seeing the reference to the Surenos 13 gang when following this story last week was that it’s likely these suspects are here illegally. I was the first person to send an inquiry to Immigration and Customs Enforcement about the immigration status of Mendoza last Tuesday, and indeed I was told he is an illegal alien and that there is a detainer lodged against him, a fact that was not mentioned in a single local media report for the first few days of the story. more here