Fired St. Paul TV Employee Acquitted of Making Threats

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A former employee at a St. Paul television station was found not guilty of making threats of violence against colleagues after he was fired.

A Ramsey County jury on Friday acquitted 37-year-old Rusty Arntson, of Brooklyn Center, who was accused of citing the Capital Gazette newspaper shootings in Maryland during a threatening phone call to the company that owns KSTP-TV. Five people were killed in that shooting.

Court records show Arntson was fired in 2017 after a confrontation with a co-worker he blamed for causing him to have a previous suspension.

Arntson's attorney, John Arechigo, called it the "right verdict" for "an unfounded charge." Dennis Gerhardstein, spokesman for the Ramsey County Attorney's Office, said he was disappointed with the decision and "wish it turned out differently."