Damarco John Thompson, the son of Minnesota Democrat John Thompson, who threatened to burn down Hugo last month, was arrested last week for illegal possession of a handgun after allegedly fleeing from officers.
This comes almost exactly two years after a St. Paul police officer saved Damarco Thompson’s life when he was shot by a fellow citizen. He also has been thrice convicted of separate gun crimes.
John Thompson, Damarco’s father, has been endorsed by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, and the Minnesota DFL Party in his bid for the Minnesota House. He made national headlines last month after he delivered a profanity-laden rant that included a threat to burn down the city of Hugo, Minnesota.
“Blue lives ain’t s–,” Thompson said during the August protest, which took place outside the home of Bob Kroll, president of the Minneapolis police union, in Hugo.
Thompson also told a man holding a blue lives matter sign to “take that sign” and “stick it in your ass.”
Thompson’s son, Damarco, appears to be embroiled in some controversy of his own after he was arrested in St. Paul on Sept. 2, according to police records.
Records show that Thompson was recently charged with illegal possession of a pistol. A more detailed report generated by St. Paul police and obtained by Alpha News shows that the arrest was made as Thompson left the Mounds Park Sports Bar and attempted to evade police.
As Thompson and two acquaintances, Bill Billy Jackson and Israeel Clevece Adams, pulled out of the bar in a vehicle driven by Thompson, an officer attempted to stop them regarding an alleged moving violation. At that point, “the vehicle made some evasive maneuvers … and ended up in an alleyway,” a St. Paul public information officer (PIO) told Alpha News.
“Based on the maneuvers of the vehicle, officers checked the pathway of the vehicle and found a gun that had scuff marks on it,” the PIO added.
The PIO also said that while it appears the gun was thrown from Thompson’s vehicle, further forensic testing involving fingerprint analysis and DNA sampling likely will be performed to confirm that the gun did in fact belong to Thompson.
Thompson was also convicted of three separate firearms-related offenses in 2016 and 2017, according to state records.
This is not Thompson’s first interaction with the St. Paul police. In early August 2018, a St. Paul officer was credited with saving his life after he was shot outside a funeral home on the 700 block of Portland Avenue.
Thompson was found in an alley with gunshot wounds to his chest and abdomen after a confrontation with a fellow citizen became violent. The St. Paul Police Department said that officer Mathew Jones aided Thompson and stemmed his bleeding until EMS arrived to transport him to the hospital. It is unlikely that Thompson would have survived without the medical care Jones administered, authorities said.
Reports from Fox 9 and the Pioneer Press identified the man who was shot on Aug. 6, 2018 as Thompson’s son Damarco. The St. Paul Police Department confirmed with Alpha News that Damarco’s life was saved by Jones, who received the Life Saving Award for his actions that day.
“While the saving of a life is generally attributed to the hospital and responding EMS crews, the officers who take those initial actions, such as Officer Jones, should receive the lion’s share of the credit,” St. Paul Fire’s EMS coordinator, Captain Kenneth Adams, said of the incident. “For if it were not for them and their actions, the EMS crews and hospital staff would not have a patient to work with.”
Kyle Hooten
Kyle Hooten is Managing Editor of Alpha News. His coverage of Minneapolis has been featured on television shows like Tucker Carlson Tonight and in print media outlets like the Wall Street Journal.
