Illinois man who made violent threats to Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan sentenced to probation
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An Illinois man who made violent threats against Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan has been sentenced to two years of probation.
Caden Sluder, 23, was sentenced during a hearing Friday in Ramsey County District Court held over Zoom.
Sluder pleaded guilty to a gross misdemeanor count of threats of violence. He’d originally been charged with a felony level count.
In court, Sluder admitted he posted several threats to Flanagan on the social media platform X. The criminal complaint says the threats came in response to Flanagan posts sending condolences to the victims of the August 2025 Annunciation Catholic Church and School shooting and thanking first responders who rushed to the scene.
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Sluder said “yes,” after every one of the threats was read aloud in court and he was asked if he’d written them.
Flanagan spoke during the hearing.
“I need Mr. Sluder to know that these posts left my family completely unsure of what was going to happen next,” she said. “I would never ask you, Mr. Sluder, to agree with me politically, but I hope that the therapy, the anger management, the community service will help you understand that there are real people on the other side of the keyboard.”
Sluder was arrested by the Minnesota State Patrol shortly after he made the posts. The criminal complaint says he told an investigator it was a joke and that he was not planning to act on the threats. The then 22-year-old also told the investigator that he was very frustrated. He defended his freedom of speech and apologized multiple times.
After his arrest, he enrolled and completed 26 weeks of anger management courses, started going to therapy and did 50 hours of community service.
“I appreciate the work that Mr. Sluder has done so far, and I choose today to believe that he has learned from this experience,” Flanagan said. “Ultimately, I do hope good things for Mr. Sluder. I do not want this incident to ruin his whole young life.”
But Flanagan added that she wanted him to know the harm and fear the posts caused both her and her family.
She talked about how the threats came just hours after the Annunciation shooting, and just two and a half months after the fatal shooting of her friends former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark. Flanagan said she was on the list of political targets that the gunman was carrying.
“I hope that this incident has taught you that words have power,” Flanagan told Sluder. “My hope for you is that this is also an opportunity for a new start to live your life in a good way and to show kindness and grace to others, even and especially when you disagree with them.”
Sluder apologized for his actions and said his arrest was a “massive wake-up call.”
“I offer no excuse for my behavior. Looking back, I am ashamed of my choices that I made that day,” he said. “I understand that my actions brought emotional stress to the victim and my own family. I am sincerely sorry for the pain, disruption and harm my choices have caused to them.”
District Court Judge Joy Bartscher said the case shows how online conversations can strip away humanity. She bemoaned the fact that the hearing was held over Zoom, saying that having everyone in person would have helped to help Sluder understand that in a face-to-face setting.
“You did a lot of hard work, and I think that has been recognized by the deal that you have made and I hope that you've learned from it,” Bartscher said.
She sentenced Sluder to one year in jail, which will be stayed if he abides by his probation guidelines.
In a separate case, a Hugo woman is expected to be sentenced on Sept. 10 for making violent threats against House Speaker Lisa Demuth. Rachel Welsch, 43, pleaded guilty to threats of violence in Washington County District Court in June. She left a series of voicemails threatening violence against Demuth.
