Watson, Minnesota man sentenced to 21 months in prison for online threats against University of Minnesota campus – West Central Tribune

MONTEVIDEO – The man who became the subject of a nationwide investigation for making online threats against the University of Minnesota in January 2024 was sentenced to prison Thursday – after being given the opportunity he requested to speak about the reasons for his actions.

Joseph Mark Rongstad, 42, of Watson was sentenced in Chippewa County District Court to 21 months in prison with credit for time already served. Rongstad had previously pleaded guilty to one count of threats of violence. In exchange, one count of illegal possession of ammunition and another count of threats of violence were dropped.

Post from Chippewa County Sheriff's Office

According to the confession filed before his guilty plea on June 28, Rongstad specifically asked for time to explain his actions at sentencing.

In a letter to the Chippewa County District Court, Rongstad apologized for mentioning the names of district judges in irregular Facebook posts on his business page from January 10 to 11.

Rongstad said he tried to contact former President Donald Trump's U.S. intelligence agency through his lawyer, Benjamin Pieh. Rongstad claims he has information about “serious matters going on in this country,” but did not elaborate on what those matters were.

Rongstad said the Secret Service told his lawyer that “the case against me (Rongstad) was closed and they were not prepared to talk to me.”

Rongstad claims that if Trump had received the information, the assassination attempt on him would not have happened, citing the July 13 shooting at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

The FBI has identified the shooter in that incident as 20-year-old Thomas Crooks, a resident of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. Crooks was killed at the scene by Secret Service agents, authorities said.

Deputy Director Paul Abbate said in a prepared speech to Congress that FBI investigators had not found a clear motive for the shooting as of July 30 and that the investigation was ongoing.

In court, Rongstad claimed that a “shadow government” was planning to use biological weapons against the people of Chippewa County in order to expropriate the land and build a wind farm and hydroelectric plant on the Minnesota River. Rongstad said the planned attack would then be blamed in the media on Russia and China.

Rongstad claimed that Russia, China, North Korea, India and Iran were “our allies… not the shadow government and NATO.”

The U.S. State Department's travel alert system currently advises American citizens not to travel to Russia, North Korea or Iran and to “write a will before traveling and leave DNA samples just in case” if they do so. Americans are currently advised to reconsider travel to China. India is listed as a Level 2 country, the second lowest alert level, meaning increased caution is advised when visiting, a level that has been assigned to dozens of countries.

Rongstad said he received information about the conspiracy nine years ago when he had “some of the most advanced and dangerous technology known to man tested and used against me.” He claims the same technology allows him and others who were tested to read minds, allowing silent communication and leaving no records.

“They can control the functions of my body,” he said, “so maybe now you understand why they don't tell you who or where they are.” Rongstad went on to say that he and others had left clues about the conspiracy in public arrest records, saying, “You just have to be smart enough to believe them.”

At the end of Thursday's hearing, Judge Jennifer Fischer told Rongstad, “Our perception changes when we take care of ourselves and our mental health.” She went on to tell Rongstad, “You haven't always thought that way.”

Rongstad thanked Fischer for her contribution and said: “I will take that into consideration.”

Rongstad has been detained outside his home since his arrest on January 11. Before that, there was an hours-long standoff that began with threats on social media. Specifically, he said he would go to the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus that same morning and “start killing children.” The posts have since been deleted from Facebook.

In April 2024, Rongstad was found competent to stand trial. An examination by Dr. Shane Wensing, a forensic psychiatrist at Minnesota Security Hospital in St. Peter, concluded that Rongstad's capacity to stand trial was currently intact. He wrote that Rongstad “had 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 attempts had been made to contact Rongstad the day before the standoff because he was known to exhibit erratic and violent behavior in the past.

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.

In the current case, Rongstad must also pay approximately $2,192 in restitution to the Stevens County Sheriff's Office for the SWAT team's deployment to his Watson, Minnesota, home, according to court documents. He also requested immediate execution of two suspended 15-month prison sentences for probation violations in Yellow Medicine and Chippewa counties. He received 245 and 265 days of credit for both sentences, respectively.

Rongstad will serve all three sentences concurrently. In Minnesota, convicted criminals must serve at least two-thirds of their sentence in prison and can serve the remainder under supervision. Rongstad's expected release date is March 11, according to the Minnesota Department of Corrections.