By Doug Pennington
Assistant Director, Communications

UPDATE (9/18): See Josh Hendrickson’s response to this post here.

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We and many others relayed the news report yesterday of Minnesota activist Josh Hendrickson, who showed up to an Obama event in Minneapolis strapped with two semi-automatic handguns, including a .40 caliber Glock and a .380 caliber KelTec.

He also had a concealed carry permit.

There are additional points, however, which I believe we are reporting here on NewsWatch in their full context for the first time.

The identity of Josh Hendrickson

1.  On Tuesday, Rachel Maddow reported her show’s interview with Josh Hendrickson and showed video of Hendrickson speaking:

2.  Separately, in the comments section to the original Star-Tribune story about Hedrickson, a commenter with the handle “mn2nmixr” identified himself as the subject of the article – though without saying explicitly that he is Josh Hendrickson.

Commenter “mn2nmixr” objected to how Star-Tribune reporter Mike Kaszuba framed the story, calling it a “hit piece.”  In later comments, “mn2nmixr” also takes issue with how readers of the story have been characterizing his behavior, and defends his actions.  As of publishing time, there were 402 comments to the Star-Tribune story, and “mn2nmixr” had the most recent entry.

3.  An internet search of the handle “mn2nmixr” reveals a wide Web presence.  See the Google search result here. See this specific result, including picture:

4.  An internet search also shows that “mn2nmixr” is attached to the identity of “J.D. Christian.”

5.  “J.D. Christian” has a significant Web presence:

Yahoo ID (MN2NMIXR):       http://www.jdchristian.com/contactdata.htm
Web site:                            http://www.jdchristian.com
Facebook page:                 http://www.facebook.com/people/Jd-Christian/823099277
Youtube page:                    http://www.youtube.com/jdchristian2007

6.  After examining this material, explored below, it is obvious that “mn2nmixr” and “J.D. Christian” look exactly like Josh Hendrickson in the Rachel Maddow video, above.

7.  For example, look at the Facebook page of “J.D. Christian” and find this image:

Note: (1) the identical appearance to the man in the Maddow video; (2) the Don’t Tread On Me flag; (3) the National Rifle Association logo, and (4) the bold faced sub-line “9/11 Was an Inside Job” – a common “Truther” motto.

8.  A look at the Web site of “J.D. Christian” shows him speaking to an “End the Fed” rally in Minnesota, also looking identical to the man in the Maddow video.

9.  A look at the Youtube page of “J.D. Christian” reveals video of him firing one of the Glock models Josh Hendrickson reportedly carried to the Obama event (a Glock 22).

10.  Note that the Web site of “J.D. Christian” lists his birth date as “November 1976″

11.  Finally, an internet search of the phrase ‘mn2nmixr Hendrickson’ returns this listing of a “J.D. Hendrickson” with the AIM and Yahoo ID of “mn2nmixr“.

While it seems clear that “Josh Hendrickson” and “J.D. Christian” are the same person, a message was sent to the e-mail address available at http://www.jdchristian.com/contactdata.htm at 1:30 pm today asking for confirmation.  As of this publishing, I have not received a reply.

Record Of Convictions

12. Recall that the Star-Tribune article reports that Josh Hendrickson admitted “that he had just been released from jail a month earlier on an assault charge for pepper-spraying a customer at a Cub Foods in Brooklyn Center, where he worked as a security guard.”

13.  A comment critical of Hendrickson was posted to the Star-Tribune article by someone with the handle “caddyright” last night at 6:03 pm – since taken down likely because of a terms of service violation. The comment provided a list of Minnesota court conviction records for a Joshua David Hendrickson (each with a birth date of 11/xx/1976, the exact date which I am omitting here).

An independent search shows that these records are publicly accessible, free of charge, via a case number criminal record search of Minnesota’s Judicial Branch Web site:

http://pa.courts.state.mn.us/default.aspx

• CASE NO. 27-CR-08-57490 June 8th, 2009 Convicted-5th Deg. Assault-Intent to Cause Bodily Harm

• CASE NO. 02-CR-07-7671 Oct. 6 2008 Convicted Disorderly Conduct-Brawling or Fighting

• CASE NO. 10-VB-07-8199 Apr. 16, 2008 Convicted Disorderly Conduct

• CASE NO. 27-CR-06-084595 Feb 14, 2007 Convicted 3rd Deg. DWI

• CASE NO. 27-CR-04-014473 Sept 29, 2004 Convicted Disorderly Conduct

• CASE NO. 27-CR-03-025265 Apr 21, 2003 Convicted Interfere with Emergency Call

• CASE NO. 27-CR-99-011521 Feb. 18, 1999 Convicted Alcohol con. .10 or more

• CASE NO. 27-CR-98-086285 Sept. 14, 1998 Convicted Reckless Driving

• CASE NO. 27-CR-96-109111 Jan. 9, 1997 Convicted Disorderly Conduct

Summary

14. The evidence strongly indicates that Josh Hendrickson is also known as J. D. Christian.  The evidence also indicates that Josh Hendrickson is Joshua David Hendrickson of Minnesota, born 11/1976.  Efforts to confirm this via direct contact have not yet been answered.

15. If these conclusions are correct, then the person who showed up at President Obama’s rally in downtown Minneapolis this week armed with two semi-automatic handguns is a believer in the “9/11 Truther” ideology, is active in the movement to “End the Fed,” is likely a member of the National Rifle Association, and has a concealed carry permit notwithstanding a record of convictions in Minnesota courts.

Doug Pennington
Assistant Director, Communications