Watson, Minnesota, man pleads guilty to threats that led to campus alert (2024)

MONTEVIDEO — The man who became the focus of a statewide investigation days into the new year of 2024 after posting threats against students on the Twin Cities campus of the University of Minnesota has pleaded guilty to one felony threats of violence charge.

Joseph Mark Rongstad, 42, of Watson, made his latest court appearance at a virtual plea hearing Friday, June 28, to tender his guilty plea. A jury trial had been set to begin July 8 in Chippewa County District Court.

According to the plea petition, Rongstad requested he be given time at his upcoming sentencing hearing to explain "why I did what I did." The prosecutor agreed to drop another threats of violence charge and a charge of illegal possession of ammunition.

Attorneys also agreed to a joint recommendation for a 21-month prison sentence, the bottom of the sentencing guidelines range for the charge, given Rongstad's criminal history score.

On Monday, June 24, Rongstad's public attorney Benjamin Pieh filed a notice of a defense of necessity stating Rongstad’s expected testimony at trial would have offered proof of a “shadow government that intends to kill the people of the valley as a show of force to the world of a new weapon of mass destruction."

The document further stated that Rongstad's testimony would have revealed a plan orchestrated by the same "shadow government" that would facilitate condemnation of the land and allow the construction of a hydroelectric reservoir along with wind generation.

Contributed / Chippewa County Sheriff's Office

A defense of necessity is filed when a defendant argues they should not be convicted of an alleged crime due to the fact that great harm may have come had he not acted in the manner that he did.

According to Pieh's filed notice, Rongstad believes the posts he made online that led to the felony charges were necessary in order to attract attention from other outside agencies and prevent any possible deaths.

Per the plea petition, Rongstad will still have the opportunity to explain his actions. However, he no longer makes the claim that he was acting out of necessity or acting in self-defense.

At a virtual hearing Tuesday, June 25, prosecutor Christopher Reisdorfer had asked Judge Jennifer Fischer not to allow the defense of necessity. He argued that even if the defense could meet its burden and offer proof of Rongstad's claims, it would not be relevant to the facts surrounding the charges filed against Rongstad.

Judge Fischer had said Tuesday that she would not block the defense testimony, saying Rongstad has a right to “say what he has to say.”

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

Pieh’s proposed jury instruction explains the elements required for a defense of necessity as follows:

First, that there were no legal alternatives to breaking the law; second, that the harm to be prevented was imminent; lastly, there is a direct causal link between breaking the law and preventing the harm.

Both attorneys told Judge Fischer at Tuesday's hearing that they were prepared to go to trial as scheduled, but Pieh had said that he and Reisdorfer were still in active discussions about a plea.

As of Friday afternoon, Rongstad remained in custody at the Chippewa County Jail on $1 million bail. His sentencing hearing is currently scheduled for Aug. 22, according to Minnesota Court Records Online.

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

Rongstad was previously found competent to stand trial in April of 2024.

An evaluation by Dr. Shane Wensing, a forensic psychiatrist with the Minnesota Security Hospital in St. Peter, opined that Rongstad’s competence-related abilities were currently intact. He wrote that Rongstad “had symptoms that likely impaired his reasoning and knowledge, (symptoms) that flowed from the use of drugs and/or alcohol,” according to the court order.

The Chippewa County Sheriff's Office, previously told the West Central Tribune that attempts were made a to contact Rongstad a day prior to the standoff due to his known criminal history involving erratic and violent behavior.

Incidents include driving a tractor into the town’s Lutheran church, firing a rifle though the sunroof of a vehicle “to stop corpses,” and burglarizing the now former Watson mayor’s home as he and his family slept.