Still no accountability for assailants in September 12th Assault at the Rustic Bar
March 11, 2024
Contact: leanduluth@gmail.com
Introduction
There was significant community concern in addition to local and national press coverage following the September 12th assault at the West Duluth bar that left Michelle Folson, a Black and Indigenous woman, in the hospital and the two suspects initially without criminal charges. Over the past six months, LEAN has monitored the case and studied documents in order to create the following analysis and collection of police documents. Additionally, primary documents from the police department and Ms. Folson are available to the public for download on LEAN’s website. While this case is complex, LEAN’s analysis shows the story of a Brown woman in our community who experienced violence, and the multitude of ways that the two white assailants, Mylon Griak and Scott Rabold, have not only avoided definitive accountability, but have also managed to avoid a day in court for nearly six months. The purpose of this report is to promote public visibility for Ms. Folson’s case, to raise questions about how the DPD and the City of Duluth have approached the case so far, and to ensure that prosecuting agencies are held accountable to who they serve (and fail to serve) in our community.
Photo of Ms. Folson's glasses following the assault
Timeline
The following timeline is taken directly from the primary sources included on our website:
List of Services
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Initial Incident at ~23:20 on 09/12 & 911 call at 00:13 on 09/13:List Item 1
Following the incident at the rustic bar, Folson walks approximately 0.3 miles to Spirit Valley YWCA where her daughter is working. 911 is called and officers receive an initial statement from Folson & daughter. Police receive statements from two other witnesses. In an initial facebook post, Duluth Police Department described, “a fight occurred between two females and they were separated by two males. The cause of the fight is still under investigation. Officers located a female with a head injury. The female was transported to a local hospital for treatment.” Dr. Dylan Wyatt at St. Luke's Emergency Department describes significant concern for “intracranial abnormalities” based on initial patient appearance and that CT scan returned positive for nasal fracture.
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Search for “tall Black man” on 09/14-09/16:List Item 2
The police report includes multiple responses to 911 calls following reports of a “tall Black man” looking for “Scott” at the Rustic Bar and the neighboring Gopher Bar. Additional response is noted to Rabold, one of the suspect’s, due to fear of robbery and intimidation following the incident. No findings of criminal activity were noted.
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Receipt of surveillance footage on 09/16:List Item 3
At 11:15, Duluth Police Department updated their previous post stating, “The owner of the Rustic Bar is cooperating with the investigation and provided surveillance video of the incident today.” According to investigating officers describing the security footage in the police report, Folson starts to get in the face of the unidentified woman and then grabs her by the head and starts pulling her down. Group including two males takes Folson to the ground. It appears Folson still has the unidentified female’s hair in her hand at this time. As they are on the ground, you can see the male wearing the hat with the gray beard come up and kick Folson in the head. He appears to put his foot on her head and her face as she’s stuck to the ground. Griak appears to be on top of her and pinning her down. [Griak] eventually grabs Folson by the head and smashes it onto the bar floor. This happened approximately two times.
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Continued Investigation 09/16 - 09/19:List Item 4
Officers continue interviewing witnesses, with 9 witnesses interviewed in total. Folsom speaks with investigators.
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Local provider examines patient on 09/21 and notes apparent “substantial bodily harm” in letter to prosecutors:
Medical provider at Lake Superior Community Health center documents Folson’s facial fracture, confusion and concussive symptoms, persistent confusion, poor concentration, bruising and laceration to the head, significant anxiety and fear related to traumatic assault, acute GI blood loss, significant disruption to daily function with dysregulated sleep patterns, inability to perform work tasks, and difficulty performing hygiene and leaving her home to be in social settings. She states that in her opinion these conditions meet the MN State Statute 609.02 definition of substantial bodily harm.
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Case handed to Duluth Attorney's Office 09/27:
St. Louis County Prosecutor Kim Maki determined there was no cause for felony or gross misdemeanor charges, so the files were handed over to the Duluth City Attorney's Office
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Griak and Rabold Charged 09/29:
Mylon Robert Griak and Scott James Rabold were each charged with assault in the fifth degree by the Duluth City Attorney
Photos uploaded to Ms. Folson's Facebook page following the assault
Discussion
The primary question that LEAN team members have been faced with throughout this investigation is whether or not Griak and Rabold’s actions should warrant a more severe charge than 5th degree assault. The next higher charge would be assault in the third degree, which would constitute a felony charge. MN Statute 609.223 defines 3rd degree assault as:
Whoever assaults another and inflicts
substantial bodily harm may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than five years or to payment of a fine of not more than $10,000, or both.
Notably,
MN Statute 609.02 Subd. 7a defines substantial bodily harm as:
"Substantial bodily harm" means bodily injury which involves a temporary but substantial disfigurement, or which causes a temporary but substantial loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ, or which causes a fracture of any bodily member.
With these statutes and definitions in mind, the main questions that remain when determining the appropriate charges for the suspects are 1) whether or not Ms. Folson’s injuries meet the definition of substantial bodily harm and 2) whether or not the actions of Rabold and Griak can be justified as self defense. Considering the letter from a healthcare provider explicitly stating that Ms. Folson’s injuries upon examination
“would support the above definition of substantial bodily harm” and the surveillance camera transcript in which police officers describe Folson being
kicked in the head,
pinned to the ground, and her
head being smashed on the ground approximately two times, LEAN Duluth is left with the following questions:
- What information has St. Louis County Attorney Kim Maki received that makes her confident in her decision not to charge either suspect with felony assault?
- Would Griak and Rabold have already faced a judge earlier if Kim Maki had decided to prosecute a felony charge?
- Why hasn’t the video of the assault been shared with the press or public despite pressure from the victim and multiple community organizations?
- What message does this slow, limited prosecution send to BIPOC community members about their safety in Duluth and how they will be represented by the criminal justice system?
While a legal approach to this case might help examine the decisions of police and the county attorney’s office, it could never do justice to the trauma that an act like this perpetuates against an entire community. In an exclusive interview with LEAN Duluth, Ms. Folson shared:
“There is nothing those men can say that can justify what they did to me. Nothing I did will ever justify what those two men did to me. They changed me forever.”
She asked LEAN Duluth to end our release with the following quote from Edward De Bono:
“There is never any justification for things being complex when they could be so simple.”
