Despite Walmart’s ban on the organization called “You Can Run But You Cannot Hide Ministries” from canvassing on Walmart property, the group’s leader Bradlee Dean again brought his staff onto the premises of a Hudson, Wis., Walmart store.

According to a local resident, who requested anonymity because his son works for Walmart, Dean’s crew was present Tuesday fundraising and handing out materials to shoppers as they left the store.

The source, who also works in retail, expressed annoyance, anger and surprise, after hearing reports from this website, Bluestem Prairie and City Pages that Walmart has, in fact, banned the group from its stores.

“I don’t think they should be spreading this bull,” he said.

He managed to pick up some of the materials being proffered by staff. They apparently included content by two doctors, Ann Blake Tracy, who claims antidepressants are no more effective than a placebo, and Leonard Horowitz, whose website offers homeopathic remedies, prayers, advances the widely discredited hypothesis that vaccinations cause autism and “[zaps] you with love” and “living water.”

These materials bothered him, but he also disliked what he called their “homophobia.”

“Real adults shouldn’t be concerned about what other adults do in their own bedrooms,” he said. “It certainly doesn’t affect my relationship with my wife.”

Upon registering his concern with managers at the Walmart store, the group was kicked out, although managers seemed annoyed and unconcerned with the problem, he said.

He also spotted Dean’s crew at Econo Foods, a grocery chain with locations in rural Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa, which is owned by Nash Finch of Edina, Minn. His complaints achieved a similar result.

Retailers seem to remain unaware of what they bargained for when they allow Dean’s group to proselytize customers, despite the numerous encounters and press they have endured.

Not happy with that, the source intends to call the number he was given, supposedly for a regional marketing manager for Walmart.

You Can Run But You Can’t Hide (YCRBYCH) Ministries canvassed Walmart customers as they left the store Saturday afternoon in Coon Rapids, Minn., despite having been banned by Walmart’s corporate headquarters.

Known for stances that gays should be jailed or even executed, YCRBYCH has previously allegedly deceived businesses where they canvassed about their intent.

Two young men in t-shirts stood behind a table with the ministry’s banner draped over the front as moderate rain fell in the northwestern suburb of Minneapolis. On the table, they had laid out magazines, pamphlets, CDs and other materials. A woman asked about their CDs and whether and what type of music they contained.

This reporter was on an errand to pick up photographs for his sister’s graduation party when the pair were spotted. Returning later that afternoon, the canvassers had left.

Asked for comment, a manager said that “you’ll want to talk to him.” Another manager said “we originally approved them” but that they later received a call from a regional office at which point they asked the group to leave. He directed media inquiries to a corporate 800 number.

YCRBYCH received media attention near the end of the Minnesota Legislature’s session, when founder Bradlee Dean, by invitation, delivered an opening prayer that many considered offensive, suggesting President Obama lies about his religion.

Blogger Sally Jo Sorensen reported on the group’s activities at other Walmart locations in the Twin Cities metropolitan area.

Audio from the interview with the Walmart managers will be uploaded but is currently not possible remotely.

I suppose it shouldn’t surprise me that ‘You Can Run But You Can’t Hide Ministries’ is canvassing in front of the Anoka Walmart.

2011-06-18 13:26 via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@anthonycmaki

Anthony C. Maki

Media inquiries: (612) 568‑6254 anthony@acmaki.com

This column was originally posted on City College News on January 25, 2011, in the series “Dispatches from Washington.”

To be honest, when I heard that Minneapolis was enduring temperatures and wind chills in the far negative range, the Minnesotan in me was yearning to go back. Last semester, I was a liberal arts student at MCTC and editor in chief of City College News.

This semester, I am a student at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and a political journalism intern at The Daily Caller, a newly-minted online news organization. I will be returning to Minnesota at the conclusion of spring semester. However, while I am away, I hope to send students at MCTC dispatches from Washington — on politics, professional experiences and the like.

As I write this, the political establishment and the news media are anxiously speculating about the what-ifs and the maneuvering in advance of tonight’s State of the Union address, President Barack Obama’s third take on the political tradition. (Readers may watch it here tonight at 8 p.m. Central time.)

It’s 45 degrees right now, but beginning with what Obama lays out in his speech, the heat is only going to build up. According to an unscientific online poll conducted by the Minneapolis Star Tribune, a plurality — 343 out of 1022 votes — want to see Obama address “curbing national debt,” as of 3:45 p.m. Central time.

Either a coincidence or some slight evidence of foresight on Obama’s part, ABC News’ Jake Tapper reported that the president will propose bringing the federal budget under an overall freeze and banning earmarks in the legislation that the U.S. House and Senate pass.

In my column “In era of budget cuts, let’s get our priorities straight,” from the Dec. 10, 2010, issue of City College News, I wrote that the process behind our college and our higher education system has gone too far in resembling an assembly line.

What we are seeing now is that the federal government, too, without new revenue streams and with tax cut extensions, cannot continue to dig deeper in its purse. That is why Obama will call for a 5-year spending freeze. Now, this is in addition to Minnesota’s anticipated budget cuts, not a freeze, to alleviate the state’s estimated $6 billion deficit.

Students, educators and administrators in higher education and in public education will need to be vigilant during this time of budget freezes and cuts.

The University of Minnesota’s newspaper, The Minnesota Daily, covered its president’s visit to the state legislature, where he made the case that education funding should be a priority.

“For every dollar you invest in us, we return, indirectly, four dollars of economic activity,” U of M President Bob Bruininks told legislators.

A separate college system from Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU), the U of M will likely be in competition for funding that Minnesota community colleges and state universities also want.

To preserve Minnesota’s top-to-bottom educational legacy, students and those who hold a stake in this system might look to the Minnesota State College Student Association (MSCSA), whose vice president, Geoff Dittberner, is an MCTC student. They might look to their elected leaders at the state and federal level. They might look to Governor Mark Dayton or to President Obama.

Ultimately, they must look to themselves to ensure the government protects this important investment.