Former Hubbard Broadcasting employee threatened company, charges say

A Twin Cities man cited the Maryland newspaper shootings when he made threats against the St. Paul media company where he used to work, authorities said Monday.

Rusty Arntson, 36, of Brooklyn Center, was charged Monday in Ramsey County District Court with one count of felony threats of violence.

Arntson once worked for Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc. (HBI) in St. Paul, which operates TV station KSTP.

"Arntson said that he made reference to the incident in Maryland as a warning to HBI that if they continued to treat their employees badly one of them may come back to hurt them," court documents said.

According to the criminal complaint: Arntson was fired from his job at HBI in 2017 after he had a "confrontation with a female coworker who he blamed for causing him to have a previous suspension." His job at the time was not specified in the complaint.

On June 21, 2018, security for the company learned that he had been on company property and made disturbing comments to a male employee.

"I won't kill you because you're a man," Arntson allegedly told the employee.

Security left Arntson a message on June 25. He returned the call on June 29, the day after five Capital Gazette employees were shot and killed.

Arntson allegedly said he wanted his job back and that HBI needed to change its policies.

"You know what happened yesterday in Maryland," he said, according to the documents.

Arntson, who has a permit to carry in Hennepin County, was arrested and allegedly told police he had no plans to hurt anyone.

CHAO XIONG