Watson, Minnesota man pleads guilty to threats that led to campus alarm – West Central Tribune

MONTEVIDEO – The man who became the focus of a nationwide investigation days after making threats against students at the University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities campus has pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated threats of violence.

Joseph Mark Rongstad, 42, of Watson, made his final court appearance on Friday, June 28, to enter his guilty plea at a virtual hearing. A jury trial was scheduled to begin July 8 in Chippewa County District Court.

According to the plea agreement, Rongstad asked to be given time at the upcoming sentencing hearing to explain “why I did what I did.” The prosecutor agreed to drop another charge of threatening violence and a charge of illegal possession of ammunition.

The lawyers also agreed on a joint recommendation for a 21-month prison sentence, which would be the lower end of the sentencing guidelines for this charge given Rongstad’s criminal record.

On Monday, June 24, Rongstad’s prosecutor, Benjamin Pieh, filed a self-defense statement, saying that Rongstad’s expected testimony in court would have provided evidence of a “shadow government intent on killing the people of the Valley in order to demonstrate its power to the world with a new weapon of mass destruction.”

The document further states that Rongstad’s testimony revealed a plan orchestrated by the same “shadow government” that would allow the expropriation of the land and the construction of a reservoir for hydroelectric and wind power.

Post from Chippewa County Sheriff’s Office

A self-defense defense is raised when a defendant argues that he should not be convicted of an alleged crime because he could have suffered great harm had he acted differently.

According to Pieh’s complaint, Rongstad believes his online posts that led to the charges were necessary to attract the attention of other outside agencies and prevent possible deaths.

According to the plea agreement, Rongstad still has the opportunity to explain his actions, but he no longer claims that he acted out of necessity or in self-defense.

At a virtual hearing on Tuesday, June 25, prosecutor Christopher Reisdorfer asked Judge Jennifer Fischer not to allow the self-defense argument, arguing that even if the defense could fulfill its duty and present evidence to support Rongstad’s claims, it would not be relevant to the facts surrounding the charges against Rongstad.

Judge Fischer said on Tuesday that she would not block the defense’s testimony because Rongstad had the right to “say what he has to say.”

Reisdorfer also argued that proposed jury instructions submitted by Pieh would confuse potential jurors. Fischer declined to rule on that before trial.

Pieh’s proposed instructions to the jury explain the elements required for a necessity defense as follows:

Firstly, that there were no legal alternatives to breaking the law. Secondly, that the damage to be averted was imminent. And finally, that there is a direct causal connection between breaking the law and averting the damage.

Both lawyers told Judge Fischer at Tuesday’s hearing that they were ready to proceed with the trial as planned. Pieh, however, said he and Reisdorfer were still in active discussions about a plea deal.

As of Friday afternoon, Rongstad is being held in the Chippewa County Jail on $1 million bail. His sentencing is currently scheduled for August 22, according to Minnesota Court Records Online.

Rongstad was arrested outside his home on a frigid afternoon on Jan. 11 after an hours-long standoff that began with threats on social media, specifically saying he would go to the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus that morning and “start killing children.” The posts have since been deleted from Facebook.

Rongstad had already been declared fit to stand trial in April 2024.

An examination by Dr. Shane Wensing, a forensic psychiatrist at Minnesota Security Hospital in St. Peter, concluded that Rongstad’s competency-related abilities were currently intact. He wrote that Rongstad “exhibited symptoms that likely impaired his judgment and knowledge, (symptoms) that were attributable to the use of drugs and/or alcohol,” according to the court order.

The Chippewa County Sheriff’s Office had previously told the West Central Tribune that they had attempted to contact Rongstad the day before the standoff because his criminal past was marked by erratic and violent behavior.

The incidents include driving a tractor into the town’s Lutheran church, firing a rifle through the sunroof of a vehicle “to stop bodies,” and breaking into the home of former Watson mayor while he and his family were sleeping.