People in Duluth are crying foul after two White men were cited for beating a Black woman nearly to death last month at a Duluth bar.
Late on the evening of September 12, Michelle Folson was brutally beaten at the Rustic Bar, located in the Spirit Valley neighborhood in southwestern Duluth.
Folson and witnesses say the White men, Scott Rabold and Mylon Griak, both of Duluth, stomped and kicked Folson in the head and face so badly that she lost consciousness. Folson said nobody at the bar called the police or otherwise intervened, and that the bartender on duty at the time had the blood washed off of the premises before police arrived.
Duluth police say that the two men intervened in a confrontation between Folson and a White woman that “got physical.” The White men reportedly separated the two and proceeded to beat Folson. The White woman is associated with the two White men.
Photos Folson posted on social media show her glasses and shirt stained with blood. Folson told the MSR she was “not satisfied” with the fact that the two White men were cited for simple assault by the Duluth city attorney. She was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury, which can hinder cognitive ability.
Locals said that, according to bar representatives, surveillance cameras at the bar were not working. However, representatives of the Rustic Bar reportedly turned over footage of the incident to Duluth police two days after they requested it.
The Duluth NAACP is working to support Folson. Her daughter, Katasia Khabeer, started a GoFundMe for Folson. It has raised $11,070 of the $50,000 goal as of this writing.
The Duluth NAACP is asking those who have information that can help with the investigation to contact them. Having reviewed footage of the incident, the organization released a statement in late September calling for those involved in Folson’s beating to be charged with third degree assault. “We believe that the altercation in conjunction with the victim’s recorded injuries easily meet the state’s standards for third degree assault that require ‘substantial bodily harm,’” said the Duluth NAACP on Facebook.
The St. Louis County Attorney’s Office reportedly declined to pursue charges against the two White men, according to the Duluth Police Department. The county attorney’s office did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
Meanwhile, a rally on the Sunday after the assault was organized by two Duluth residents and friends of Folson’s daughter, Lily Zontelli and Amy Rose Wuebkers. The rally was canceled because the bar owner is cooperating with law enforcement by turning over videotapes of the incident. Both expressed their outrage after the citing decision was made.
“We are pissed,” said Wuebkers, adding they are still deciding what their next steps will be. “[We are] not going to stand for this.”
Duluth, where the first Black Minnesotan was born in 1802, has encountered its share of racially motivated mistreatment of Black people. In 1920 three Black men were lynched in downtown Duluth for supposedly raping a White woman. A physician who examined the White woman found no evidence of rape.
A representative from the Duluth NAACP says that people from marginalized communities have been “under attack” more often in the Northland as of late. In addition to calling on the Duluth Police Department to end pretextual stops, they’ve had to intervene in the following incidents:
- In February 2022, a young Black girl was disqualified from participating in a swim meet because she wore a Black Lives Matter swimsuit. The volunteer judge who disqualified her was ultimately banned from participating.
- In March 2023, the St. Louis County attorney charged St. Louis Park resident Steven Cooper for being in possession of a firearm, a violation for the former felon, after turning in to authorities a firearm he found in his late brother’s car. Cooper pled guilty and awaits sentencing in October.
- In August 2023, a White incumbent of the local school board reshared a Facebook post involving her opponent’s son, who is Black, asking why she is running for school board instead of serving on a committee to improve the school her son goes to.
The Rustic Bar has been involved in three personal injury lawsuits, at least one of which involved a brawl, in 1996, 2001 and 2013.
In the 2013 incident, a bar patron suffered a broken leg after being harassed and beaten by five other bar patrons. Four of those patrons had started two other fights at the same bar in the previous year, according to a Minnesota Court of Appeals opinion issued in November 2015.
Nobody at the bar answered the phone when the MSR attempted to contact the bar’s owner, Jeff Flynn, who could not be reached for comment by phone or through social media.
Those wishing to contribute to Folson’s GoFundMe can visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-my-mom-after-a-brutal-attack.
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The REAL story is 6’2″ 250 lb “victim” assaulted and dragged a woman who was 5’2″ by her hair and the woman’s husband stepped in and trying to restrain her. When he couldn’t restrain her, he assaulted her to her off his wife. The DPD didn’t just lower the charges…they examined the video and talked to witnesses. The “victim” lied and said there was no other woman and that she was dragged out of the bar and left for dead. It was a lie. Find all the facts instead of repeating half the story.
Nah, it sounds like a pretty true and comprehensive account of a hate crime. Waste time somewhere else.
You can’t be serious!! No matter if she was fighting the woman. As men, why not stop and remove your wife but instead two grown ass men attack her and beat her unconscious. You must be related to the woman beaters.
She was never unconscious. That was also a lie she told. The woman SHE assaulted returned her wallet she dropped on the floor while intoxicated and returned it to her. Does that sound like she’s a racist? Michelle lied about the other woman even being involved when it was her who dragged the woman by her hair. The woman’s husband tried to restrain her, but she was bigger than he was. Straight up my husband would put a person down regardless of their sex if they won’t stop beating me. I hope yours would too.
This is why as women we need to arm ourselves and do what we must to survive and deal with the fallout later because most men these days are cowards, especially the prejudiced ones.