Rep. Stauber ducks out of Teamsters meeting, dodging blocked media and protesters

DULUTH, Minn. – U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber’s office responded to FOX 21’s request for more information Thursday involving a Wednesday night protest outside the Teamsters Local 346 building in Duluth involving the congressman.

The spokesperson said Stauber was invited to the private gathering inside the union hall with the Teamsters to give an update on the Faster Labor Contracts Act.

Stauber, according to the spokesperson, had nothing to do with organizing the meeting and was not aware of which media outlets were invited or not invited to be there.

FOX 21 and the Duluth News Tribune were not allowed inside the union hall. Northern News Now was kicked out, according to their reporting.  But WDIO-TV was the sole media outlet allowed inside, which included a one-on-one interview with Stauber.

As for the protesters, they were not happy with efforts to ease federal restrictions on mining near the boundary waters and the current ICE operations in the state.

“You have to show up and let your representative know that you’re not feeling represented. That’s what everyone is doing here tonight,” according to protester Emily who did not want to give her last name. “There’s so many things that we want to talk about with Pete, and we never get the opportunity, so we have to show up here and hold signs and yell chance in hopes of gaining some sort of recognition.”

Stauber seen leaving the back of the union hall with non-local law enforcement around him.
Picture courtesy: Duluth News Tribune

The Duluth News Tribune reported that Stauber left out the back of the union hall with security around him.

St. Louis County Sheriff Gordon Ramsay told FOX 21 the man in a brown uniform with a sheriff’s patch was not his employee.

Duluth Police Chief Mike Ceynowa said two of his officers were contracted through the U.S. Capitol Police to be at the Stauber event. Ceynowa said each contracted officer comes at a cost of $100 per hour for a minimum of four hours.

Congressman Stauber’s office did not reply to FOX 21’s follow-up questions Thursday that asked why Stauber needed the security at the Teamsters event and why he left the venue out the back door.

Meanwhile, Duluth News Tribune Exec. Editor Rick Lubbers published an opinion piece Thursday night called: Local media still on hold with Congressman Stauber.

Lubbers said gatekeeping and a lack of accountability was on full display at the union hall gathering Wednesday night.

Lubbers also took a bigger-picture look at the role of elected officials and journalists.

“When an elected official makes a conscious effort to gag the media, he or she effectively silences the watchdogs looking out for the people they are supposed to serve. Our elected leaders are charged with answering to their constituents, and the press is an extension of that,” Lubbers said.

Below is the full statement from Stauber’s office:

“It seems that there’s confusion on the private meeting last night, so I wanted to provide clarification.

This event was not a public event nor was it organized by Congressman Stauber’s office. It was a private invitation-only event organized by the Teamsters who invited Congressman Stauber to give an update on the Faster Labor Contracts Act he co-authored.

We’re unaware of which folks in the press were invited or not invited.  If this is something you want clarification on, I encourage you to reach out to the Teamsters themselves.

Late Thursday night around 10:50 p.m., Zak Radzak, secretary-treasurer for the Teamsters Local 346, replied to FOX 21’s request for more information about Wednesday’s meeting.

Radzak explained there were capacity concerns inside the union hall for the Stauber event, which is why media was not allowed inside.  WDIO was allowed inside, though, because of Radzak’s years-long connection with a reporter at the station, according to Radzak.

“I called for our sergeant of arms to remove the media that was in [the lobby],” according to Radzak. “I did not want the commotion to spill into to the basement with 40+ members.”

Meanwhile, Rep. Stauber posted this photo of the room (below), which shows three members of the WDIO team (back of the room to the left) inside the union hall gathering with plenty of room inside.

Photo from Rep. Stauber’s Facebook on Thursday