Controversial Hiring in Minnesota Education Department

The Minnesota Department of Education, under the leadership of Democratic Governor Tim Walz, recently made headlines for hiring Wilson Tindy, a Kenyan national with a troubling background. Tindy was previously found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman in 2016 after breaking into her home. This conviction seems to have been overlooked, as he was later promoted to supervise the agency’s internal audit division.

Tindy was appointed as director of internal audit and advisory services in December 2023. According to various sources, including Alpha News, he has held multiple positions within Minnesota’s education and pollution control agencies since entering state employment. After questions arose about his past, Tindy’s profile was swiftly removed from the Minnesota Department of Education’s website.

In terms of his criminal history, court records reveal that Tindy accepted a deal in which he admitted to inappropriately touching a woman while she was asleep in Hennepin County in 2014. This plea agreement allowed him to avoid more severe penalties and to remain in the U.S. In a separate incident in 2012, another woman accused him of a similar assault, but this case did not lead to formal charges.

Complicating matters, Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) had previously attempted to deport Tindy due to his criminal record. He had become a legal permanent resident in 2014, but faced renewed threats of deportation thereafter. His immigration status has been a contentious issue, and he was eventually released from custody in early 2018 on grounds of prolonged detention.

As of now, Tindy does not appear in ICE’s detention database. His salary at the Pollution Control Agency reportedly reached $58 an hour in 2024.

This series of events has raised substantial questions about the vetting processes within state agencies and the implications of hiring individuals with serious criminal backgrounds.