MAGAs recording private conversations

During the “No Kings” and Ely Demonstration for compassion, democracy and the rule of law at Whiteside Park in Ely, MN, on Saturday, April 19, 2025, a member of a prominent and very active Ely political family was intentionally recording and/or overhearing private conversations without telling individuals involved. I discovered this when I turned around to find him standing behind me for quite a while with his phone held in front of his chest. It looked like he held a special expensive black microphone recording device in addition to his smartphone.

Intentionally overhearing and recording private conversations is rude and civically inappropriate. This was no innocent accident, especially with that black microphone.

I was told that he had being doing this for awhile, going up and down the sidewalk twice. Since he did not announce his intentions to record or overhear private conversations nor did he first ask for permission, I informed demonstrators what was going on. I told demonstrators this was their chance to voice their opinions and reasons for demonstrating today. He should record what we want to say publicly for his blog, podcast, or whatever his plans were — not our private conversations. Apparently he didn’t really want to hear why we were there, because he left shortly rather than continuing down the sidewalk.

The Ely “No Kings” demonstration today was at a public park in public. We knew we could be photographed or our words recorded when we shouted out. But private conversations should be respected. When families gather along the streets to watch 4th of July parades or go to outdoor concerts, plays and events at Whiteside, they do not expect or want strangers to intentionally come up to record or overhear private conversations. When we go to church, the movies, a restaurant or any public place, we do not expect or want strangers to intentionally stand/sit near us to record or overhear private conversations.

Was this an (un)official Ely-based MAGA response to public demonstrations?

Today we again witnessed the moral decay of adult behavior, a civil society and our democracy. It is so easy to blame addiction to social media to explain teenage behavior. He was not an immature teenager. This was/is an adult, a known member of Ely’s established and currently active political family, who felt he had the right to invade our privacy. I was told another adult member of his family was there whom I believe to be a decent man. I would hope you both have discussions about privacy, invasion of privacy, and how what happened today is a scary reflection of what many of us believe to be the intentional erosion of our constitutional freedoms by Trump, Musk, other (non)appointed individuals, and elected officials. What you do – accept, condone, praise or reject what happened – sets the example for young and old in this community, especially within your political groups.

We are peaceful demonstrators. We believe EVERYONE should be treated with respect whatever their political views. We will not engage in rude, inappropriate, disrespectful or intimidating tactics. We will NOT encourage our teenagers or adult family members to engage in rude, inappropriate, disrespectful or intimidating tactics. We know the difference between right and wrong for our own lives and our own choices. We also know the difference between right and wrong actions taken by government. We stood up for right today. We will stand up tomorrow. We have backbones.

Please do not stand up for intimidation and retaliation by anyone to anyone. “Nonpartisan” is supposed to mean something more than just 11 letters randomly scrambled together. We know what intimidation looks like. We know what retaliation looks like. We don’t want it here in Ely, in Minnesota, nor anywhere else.

Scary but honest news from a Republican, Senator Lisa Murkowski from Alaska