Lisa Hanson, a former wine bar and coffee owner who was jailed for violating Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz's shutdown orders, told Fox News Digital that the now Democratic vice presidential nominee essentially “shut down and destroyed” her small business, warning Americans: “You don't want tyranny on this level.”
Hanson, a mother of eight children and soon to be 18 grandchildren, said that aside from a speeding ticket she received as a teenager, she had always been a law-abiding citizen and had been in business with her husband for more than 30 years. By the time the COVID-19 pandemic was in full swing in 2020, Hanson said The Interchange Wine & Coffee Bistro in Albert Lea, about 90 miles south of Minneapolis, had been open for eight years.
His wine bistro and coffee shop initially complied with the closure ordered in March. However, Hanson said he watched for months as Walz never fully reopened the state when it came to businesses deemed nonessential, such as bars, restaurants, gyms, dance studios and hair salons. By contrast, the governor never closed liquor stores, “big box stores” or even strip clubs.
“He closed down a lot of mom-and-pop stores, those that were just trying to make a living and provide a great product and great service,” Hanson told Fox News Digital. “Instead, he allowed big box stores, etc., to stay open. It's really unbelievable, an unbelievable use of tyranny against the people.”
Hanson ultimately decided to reopen his business and defied Walz's renewed order closing bars and restaurants six times between December 2020 and January 2021.
She was convicted in December 2021 of a misdemeanor and received the maximum sentence of 90 days and a $1,000 fine. Hanson ended up serving only 60 days.
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“This is the story that America needs to hear, that Tim Walz is not a lovable, cheerful coach like all the mainstream media names him,” Hanson told Fox News Digital. “This man is not like that. This man would like to take away your rights. He will take them away. Because what happened to me could have happened to anybody. What happened to me will happen to you.”
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks during a campaign event Aug. 7, 2024, in Detroit. Vice President Kamala Harris and Walz are campaigning across the country this week. (Andrew Harnik)
“My family has paid a heavy price. While I was in prison, I missed Christmas with my family, I missed my wedding anniversary, and I also missed the birth of one of my grandchildren,” Hanson said. “I can never get that time back. It was stolen from me. My business was destroyed. My business is gone. After everything that happened, Tim Walz and Keith Ellison destroyed my business. They ruined my life.”
“I've heard some people say that Tim Walz is a really nice guy. Yeah, well, he's not. Believe me,” Hanson said. “Throughout this whole process, I've gotten to know other people. They've had similar things happen to them as they've tried to run their business and survive. Mostly women, by the way. So Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison really like to attack women. They're abusers.”
“They are bullies and they like to go after women and torment them and destroy their lives. This is what they have done in the state of Minnesota. So let America know that you do not want Tim Walz as your vice president. You do not want tyranny on this level,” she continued. “I've seen it firsthand. We Minnesotans have seen what Tim Walz, the kind of evil he orchestrates if he is elected vice president of this country. He, in lockstep with Harris, who is also evil, will perpetuate this same kind of evil against the American people. We do not want that. So this is the truth about Tim Walz.”
“I would like to see Tim Walz impeached. I would like to see him prosecuted for the crimes he has committed against the people of Minnesota,” Hanson said.
When Walz issued an executive order in November 2020 that again shut down 100% dine-in services for both indoor and outdoor bars and restaurants in the state, Hanson said he joined a group of nearly 200 business owners called “Open Minnesota,” believing the governor, supported by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, was operating “in a dishonest manner outside the law.”
“We had God-given and constitutionally protected rights to be open. There was no statute or law that allowed Governor Walz to do what he did. He really went outside of statutory law. But more importantly, constitutional law,” Hanson said. “Because we have that right to be able to run our businesses and lead our lives as we see fit, of course, within the rule of law.”
Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz during a campaign rally at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, on Aug. 10, 2024. (RONDA CHURCHILL/AFP via Getty Images)
“We have a corrupt government attacking us and saying, 'You have no right to run your business,'” he said. “That's not a republic. That's not how a republic operates. It's a dictatorship.”
Hanson described to Fox News Digital the moment he learned Walz had been selected as Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate.
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“I honestly shouldn't have been surprised by what I felt, but from what I know of Tim Walz, from the tyrant that I know him to be, he's destroyed so many lives in the state of Minnesota. He hasn't stopped destroying lives. He's going to continue to destroy lives,” Hanson said. “I don't use that word lightly, 'evil.' But, with the evil person that he is, it's no surprise that Harris chose him as her running mate,” Hanson said.
“Tim Walz has accomplished a lot of horrible things in the state of Minnesota in a very short period of time,” he said.
Regarding the mass unrest that followed the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Hanson asked, “Where was our governor? Where was our governor when the looting and the burning happened? A businessman who burned his business down. Where was our governor?”
“I haven't been to Minneapolis since that happened,” Hanson told Fox News Digital. “I don't need to go there. I've seen what Tim Walz allowed to happen in Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Minnesota. That man is a wrecking machine. He needs to be stopped.”
Governor Tim Walz, Senator Amy Klobuchar and Senator Tina Smith met with business owners whose businesses were looted and destroyed. (Anthony Souffle/Star Tribune via Getty Images)
Hanson said that within 24 to 48 hours of first reopening his wine bistro and coffee shop in December 2020, “the state came at us with a vengeance,” goading the health department into taking over his business and eventually filing about a half-dozen civil and criminal cases against him. During his trial, Hanson claimed he was denied due process and blamed “corrupt judges,” the attorney general and Walz for acting “in unison.”
“They used all their resources against We the People, trying to run a business and serve a cup of coffee to a willing customer who was helping me. And they said, 'No, you can't do that,'” Hanson said. “And, mind you, there was never an injury. There was never a COVID-19 infection, and there was never a death because I had my doors open and willing customers came to patronize me.”
Hanson said that after incurring tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees and fines, his business was eventually forced to close under intense pressure from the government.
“What happened to me was not a coincidence and they wanted to set an example, right?” Hanson said. “It was like living a nightmare, literally.”
Hanson, who voted for former President Trump in 2016 and 2020, said she is not convinced she will support the Republican candidate in the 2024 election, citing what she has learned about Operation Warp Speed and Trump's attribution of the development of the COVID-19 vaccine. While she would not support the Harris-Walz candidacy at all, Hanson was completely opposed to the two-party system of government.
“Donald Trump is not going to save America. We know for a fact that Biden is not going to save America and Harris is not going to save America. People need to get involved,” Hanson said.
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Hanson, who briefly ran unsuccessfully for state Senate in 2022, encouraged citizens, especially parents, to get involved in school systems and local government.
“In my view, electing Donald Trump is not the way to go, for many reasons,” Hanson said. “We need to change the two-party system. Otherwise, we're headed toward big words: socialism, communism. And I know a lot of people who would say we're already there, but we're not there yet.”
