Conell Walter Harris – Photo: Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office
A 29-year-old Minneapolis man has been sentenced to nearly five years in prison for an incident in which he threatened to shoot up the oldest continuously operating gay bar in Minneapolis last year.
According to court documents, on Nov. 28, 2022, Minneapolis police officers were called to respond to a disturbance at the historic 19 Bar, in downtown Minneapolis.
When officers arrived on the scene, several people pointed to a man — later identified as Conell Walter Harris — and accused him of pulling out a gun after being told to leave the bar.
Harris resisted arrest and tried to reach into the pocket of his hooded sweatshirt. After detaining him, police recovered a stolen .45 caliber Glock model 30 pistol from Harris’s pocket.
Upon interviewing other bar patrons, police determined that Harris had entered the gay bar and began “acting strangely.” When an employee asked him to show his ID, he became upset, allegedly saying, “I ain’t going nowhere.”
The bartender asked Harris to leave, but he refused and pulled out a gun, threatening to shoot up the bar. According to court documents, Harris reportedly told employees, “What watch the fuck you’re saying,” and “I’m going to fuck you up.”
A customer got in between Harris and the bartender and tried to de-escalate the situation. Harris allegedly used profanities and shouted, “I’ll fucking kill your d**e ass” at the bartender before leaving the building. Someone called the police to complain, and by the time officers arrived on the scene, Harris had returned to the bar and was playing pool.
In April, Harris pleaded guilty to one felony count of illegally possessing a firearm. Prosecutors had asked for a five-year sentence, arguing that Harris has four prior felony convictions, including two involving possessing a firearm.
“This incident could have resulted in serious injury to Mr. Harris or bystanders,” prosecutors argued in a court filing.
As noted by LGBTQ Nation, Harris’s attorney argued that Harris only be sentenced to three years in prison, claiming that the 29-year-old had a difficult childhood, was shot when he was 16, and faced psychological challenges, including drug addiction, throughout his life.
Harris’s attorney argued that Harris was “confused and upset” when the bar wouldn’t accept a picture on his phone as a form of ID, and, when he tried to explain himself, was told to leave. The attorney also argued that Harris didn’t point the gun at anyone in particular and believed he was “acting in self-defense” because an employee had touched him when asking him to leave.
On August 8, Harris was sentenced by Senior Judge David S. Doty to 57 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. In addition to the federal firearms charge, he also faces state charges stemming from the incident, including making threats of violence with reckless disregard of risk.
Harris’s threat to shoot up 19 Bar, which has been in operation since 1957, making it one of the country’s oldest continuously operating gay bars, came amid a backdrop of increased threats against LGBTQ nightlife spaces.
The same month that Harris was arrested, a man in Georgia was arrested for allegedly making threats of gun violence on social media against two gay bars in Atlanta. The suspect in that case, Chase Staub, was arrested and charged with terroristic threats and acts and disorderly conduct, although he was released on bond.
The following month, police in West Hollywood, California, received a report that a patron of The Abbey, a well-known gay bar, had been spotted by one of the bar’s security guards attempting to hand a gun off to another patron. The suspect did not make any verbal threats against the bar or staff, and no arrest was made in the incident.
Shakers, a D.C. bar particularly popular with various LGBTQ recreational sports leagues, has announced on Instagram that it will be closing its doors on Sunday, Nov. 23.
In the Nov. 17 Instagram post, Daniel Honeycutt and Justin Parker -- also proprietors of the since-closed The Dirty Goose bar -- shared that after "many, many difficult discussions," they have decided to leave the LGBTQ nightlife industry. The couple said they looked forward to taking extra time to spend with their 3-year-old son.
The post also noted that Keaton Fedak, the owner of Kiki and a former employee of The Dirty Goose, would be taking over the space at 2014 Ninth St. NW, which includes two indoor bars and a large enclosed patio.
A gay-owned ice cream shop displaying a large Pride flag outside was attacked twice in 24 hours by a man who hurled Molotov cocktails at the business.
Jason Fletcher, owner of Fletcher's Ice Cream & Café in Minneapolis, told NBC affiliate KTTC that employees had left just six minutes before the first attack, around 10:45 p.m. on Sunday, October 19. The suspect hurled a Molotov cocktail, shattering a window and igniting several chairs. Patrons at nearby Mac's Industrial Sports Bar helped extinguish the flames.
The second attack came just over 14 hours later, around 12:52 p.m. on Monday, when the shop was closed. This time, the Molotov cocktail created a larger hole in the window, but its wick fell out before the flames could reach inside. The fire scorched the sidewalk outside, leaving burn marks near several tables and chairs.
Sheldon "Timothy" Herrington Jr. has been sentenced to 40 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder and evidence tampering in the death of University of Mississippi graduate student Jimmy "Jay" Lee. The gay 20-year-old disappeared in 2022, and his remains were not found until earlier this year.
Herrington was first charged with Lee's murder just weeks after he disappeared. But the case was difficult to prosecute, largely because Lee's body remained missing for more than two years, including at the time of Herrington’s December 2024 trial.
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