Minnesota Star Tribune Celebrates Child Rapist Pardon in Stunning Display of Liberal Depravity

Minnesota’s largest newspaper just applauded Governor Tim Walz for protecting an illegal immigrant who repeatedly raped a 10-year-old girl—and they did it with a smile.

The Minnesota Star Tribune published a weekend column that didn’t just defend Walz’s unconscionable decision to pardon convicted child rapist Tou Lue Vang. They celebrated it. Under a section literally titled “Cheers to Gov. Tim Walz,” columnist Rochelle Olson praised the failed vice presidential candidate for “refusing to back down” from his vote to grant clemency to this monster.

Let that sink in. A major American newspaper is giving “cheers” to a politician who shielded a foreign child predator from deportation.

The Facts the Star Tribune Conveniently Omitted

Here’s what Olson’s glowing tribute somehow forgot to mention: Vang systematically raped a child over a two-year period between 2002 and 2004. The victim was just 10 years old when the abuse began.

The Laotian national was convicted of felony sexual assault in 2006 and was scheduled for deportation—the bare minimum consequence for a foreign criminal who violated America’s hospitality in the most heinous way imaginable. But on June 10, Minnesota’s Board of Pardons—composed of Walz, state Attorney General Keith Ellison, and state Chief Justice Natalie Hudson—unanimously voted to grant him clemency.

Three Democrats decided that protecting an illegal immigrant child rapist was more important than protecting American children.

Then Came the Truly Deranged Part

The Star Tribune’s defense of this abomination reached new depths of moral bankruptcy when Olson attempted to justify Vang’s pardon by comparing his crimes to the January 6 Capitol protests.

“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,” she wrote.

Read that again. A mainstream newspaper columnist just equated repeatedly raping a 10-year-old girl with protesting in the Capitol building.

This is the modern left in its purest form—where political theater matters more than protecting children, and where defending illegal immigrants trumps defending innocent victims.

America Responds with Righteous Fury

The backlash was swift and withering. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer didn’t mince words: “The Minnesota Star Tribune is cheering on Tim Walz protecting an illegal alien monster who raped a 10 year old girl. No one should read this depraved rag. They are sick.”

Author Dennis Neale captured the absurdity perfectly: “The Star Tribune likens repeatedly raping a 10-year-old girl to protesting in the Capitol on Jan 6. You fluppin’ idiots.”

Social media erupted in disgust. “Minnesota’s largest paper actually figured out a way to shove January 6th into this as a way to excuse an illegal immigrant who sexually assaulted a child,” one user noted. “One of the most insane things I’ve ever seen.”

Claremont Institute senior fellow Jeremy Carl delivered perhaps the most devastating assessment: “The degeneracy of the modern left would be impossible to exaggerate because it is impossible to exaggerate infinity.”

The Star Tribune’s Pathetic Defense

When confronted with the controversy, a Star Tribune spokesperson offered this tepid response: “The Minnesota Star Tribune regularly publishes a wide range of opinions across the political spectrum.”

This is the classic mainstream media deflection—hiding behind “diverse opinions” while actively celebrating the protection of child predators. There’s nothing remotely conservative or moderate about cheering a pardon for an illegal immigrant who raped a child. This is radical leftism at its most grotesque.

The spokesperson added that their columnist merely “agreed with a unanimous pardon” by state officials, as if three Democrats voting together somehow validates protecting a child rapist from deportation.

Justice Finally Prevails—No Thanks to Walz

Despite Walz’s best efforts to shield Vang from consequences, Secretary of State Marco Rubio ensured that justice was ultimately served. On July 10, Rubio announced that Vang had been deported to his native Laos.

“Just weeks ago, a foreign child rapist was freed to once again endanger America’s children after receiving a pardon from Minnesota Governor Tim Walz,” Rubio declared. “Tue Lue Vang admitted to committing heinous crimes against a 10-year-old girl in Minnesota. He attempted to pay his victim for her silence and dismissed his acts of child abuse as a ‘minor thing.'”

Rubio didn’t stop there. “Just days before he was scheduled to be deported, the Minnesota Governor pardoned him, setting him free to endanger American families once again. That’s why I terminated his legal status in the United States. Vang has now been removed from our country and will never pose a threat to any American ever again.”

This is what real leadership looks like—putting American children before political correctness.

Walz Doubles Down on Depravity

Even after Vang’s deportation, Walz refused to acknowledge his catastrophic judgment. Instead, he doubled down with questions that reveal the warped priorities of the modern Democratic Party.

“Did that make us any safer?” Walz asked. “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?”

Let’s answer those questions: Yes, Governor, removing a foreign child rapist from American soil absolutely makes us safer. Yes, ensuring that predators face consequences does make children more stable by showing them that justice exists. And no, repeatedly raping a 10-year-old child over two years isn’t having a “worst day”—it’s being a monster who forfeited any claim to American mercy.

The Real Story Here

This controversy exposes three fundamental truths about today’s Democratic Party and their media allies.

First, they value illegal immigrants more than American citizens—even when those immigrants are convicted child rapists.

Second, they will invoke January 6 to justify literally anything, no matter how obscene the comparison.

Third, major newspapers like the Star Tribune have abandoned any pretense of journalistic integrity in favor of serving as propaganda outlets for the radical left.

The Star Tribune’s celebration of this pardon isn’t journalism. It’s activism of the most depraved kind—using their platform to normalize protecting foreign criminals who prey on American children.

What This Means for Minnesota

Minnesotans should remember this moment. Their governor unanimously voted to protect a child rapist from deportation. Their largest newspaper celebrated that decision. And their state’s Democratic leadership showed that virtue-signaling about immigration matters more than protecting vulnerable children.

This is the natural endpoint of sanctuary policies and open-border ideology—where American children become acceptable collateral damage in the left’s quest for moral superiority.

The Star Tribune can publish all the “diverse opinions” they want. But when those opinions include giving “cheers” to politicians who pardon illegal immigrant child rapists, they’ve forfeited any claim to credibility.

Americans see through this sickness. We recognize that protecting children should never be a partisan issue. And we won’t forget that when Democrats had to choose between an illegal immigrant child rapist and American values, they chose the rapist.

The Star Tribune just told us exactly who they are. We should believe them.