NRA Mocked by Trump Critics After Tim Walz Shotgun Fact-Check

he National Rifle Association (NRA) is being mocked on X, formerly Twitter,
after it posted a video of Democratic vice presidential hopeful Tim Walz
with a shotgun on Tuesday.

The video, accompanied by circus music, showed the Minnesota governor in a
field with a gun, which the organization said he was attempting to load.

"Tim Walz previously claimed he kept a shotgun in his car so he could hunt
pheasants after football practice," the post said. "This is Tim Walz
attempting to load his shotgun this past weekend."

The clip showed Walz hunched over the gun working with a mechanism before
tapping the butt pad. It ended with a graphic reading "that dog don't
hunt," making the assertion the governor did not know how to use his
firearm.
Tim Walz in Pennsylvania
Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Tim Walz speaks during a campaign
rally at Telesz Farms on October 15, 2024, in Volant, Pennsylvania. The
Minnesota governor was targeted by the NRA in a post on X on...
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

The post quickly attracted the attention of other X users, who were quick
to point out that Walz was, in fact, unloading the gun properly.

A community note, which appears under posts to add context, read "Walz is
unloading the gun" with a link to a YouTube video of another gun owner
carrying out the same action.

"Community Note on proper gun use to the NRA? Straight gold," one user
replied, with another calling it "humiliating."

Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter was killed in the Parkland school shooting,
also replied to the post.

"This is the NRA proving that they know nothing about gun safety and
preventing people from getting shot," he said.

"@Tim_Walz is showing the right way to do this, safely. If ever you doubted
who to listen to, focus on gun owners who believe in safety."

Walz and Vice President Kamala Harris have been vocal about their gun
ownership during the election campaign.

The Minnesota governor was once highly favored by the NRA, which gave him
an A rating for his support of gun rights, but that relationship soured in
recent years as Walz moved toward backing gun reform measures.

"I know guns. I'm a veteran, a hunter, and I was a better shot than most
Republicans in Congress�and I've got the trophies to prove it. But I'm also
a dad. I believe in the Second Amendment. But our first responsibility is
to keep our kids safe," he said at the Democratic National Convention in
August.

The NRA has taken issue with Walz's stance, which has included the
introduction of background checks and "red flag" protections in his state.
He and Harris have since said they would like to see these introduced at
the federal level.

https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/swnewsmedia.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/5/0c/50cf1115-5263-5d06-abf6-3b1c6bd2e26a/59fb785397833.image.png?resize=200%2C235
Donte Zemaitis-Thomas

A 2016 Prior Lake High School graduate has been accused of a rape at a Mankato party.

Donte Zemaitis-Thomas, 19, is charged with two counts of criminal sexual conduct and false imprisonment, both felonies in Blue Earth County Court, according to a criminal complaint. A warrant for his arrest was issued Oct. 23 and he was eventually arrested by Mankato police and booked into Blue Earth County Jail Nov. 1.

Zemaitis-Thomas has a hearing on Feb. 21 at 9:45 a.m. in Blue Earth County Court.

According to the complaint:

On Oct. 19, a Mankato Department of Public Safety officer was dispatched to the Mayo Clinic Health System in Mankato to investigate a possible sexual assault. The victim told the officer she'd been forced to have sex with someone.

A witness told the officer that she went into the bathroom and found the victim "hysterical" on the floor.

The victim told the witness a male from the party she knew only as "Donte" had allegedly raped her. The witness also saw a ripped condom wrapper on the floor. Another witness was friends with a man who knew Zemaitis-Thomas and said he had dropped Zemaitis-Thomas off at a residence hall at Minnesota State University in Mankato.

The victim told police she went to the bathroom and as she went to leave, Zemaitis-Thomas allegedly pushed her into the bathroom and raped her. She told police she told him "no" multiple times and tried to get away. At one point, the victim pushed him away and said Zemaitis-Thomas "got mad."

The victim told police that Zemaitis-Thomas ordered her to stay in the bathroom and then left.

Mankato police then called Minnesota State University in Mankato, but Zemaitis-Thomas was not listed as a student. His driver license had a Prior Lake address, so the police then called the Prior Lake Police Department. The department had an updated address for Zemaitis-Thomas in Rochester.

The Prior Lake Police Department confirmed that Zemaitis-Thomas has a past address in Prior Lake. Prior Lake High School confirmed Zemaitis-Thomas graduated from the school in 2016.

Zemaitis-Thomas was arrested last year in Arizona for burglary, according to Pinal County court records.

Zemaitis-Thomas faces 25 years in prison and/or $50,000 in a maximum sentence for the two counts of criminal sexual misconduct and three years and/or $5,000 maximum sentence for the false imprisonment charge.

https://www.swnewsmedia.com/prior_lake_american/news/hearing-set-for-prior-lake-high-school-grad-charged-with-rape/article_267771fc-4354-5ed9-84a3-a9e3530f29db.html