(Radio Iowa) – Republican Congressman Steve King says if diplomacy fails, sending the military to the border to repel a large group of asylum seekers is the only option. King says there is legislation that could be passed in congress, but he expects a confrontation at the southern border “pretty soon after the Election.”

“Send the military down and line them up shoulder-to-shoulder on the Rio Grande and if those inflatable boats come over, loaded full of illegals, you just step our military down into the water and you hold those boats off the shore and load those illegals onto U.S. boats, take them back to Mexico and then destroy those rafts,” King says. “Just poke a hole in them sink ’em right there.”

King says a soverign nation must protect its borders and enforce its immigration laws. “It looks like an invasion. It’s twice the size of Santa Anna’s army when he invaded Texas and they’re just not wearing uniforms and all of them aren’t armed, but they’re marching under their own national flags towards the border, announcing they’re going to cross into the United States and that they have a right to migrate into the United States,” King says. “And, of course, they do not.”

King says if this group of migrants get through the southern border, there will be an “endless stream” of people stetching from Central America through Mexico, aiming to enter the United States. “When you reward lawbreakers, you get more lawbreakers,” King says. “This could destroy the immigration rule of law in America if we don’t hold it now.”

King made his comments last (Thursday) night after a Plymouth County “meet and greet” in Le Mars. King is seeking a 10th term in the U.S .House this year. King’s Democratic opponent is J.D. Scholten of Sioux City.

Police in Creston arrested a woman late Thursday morning. 33-year old Karmyn Kay Watson, of Creston, was arrested on a Violation of Protections Order charge. Watson was subsequently released from the Union County Jail on a Promise to Appear in court.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Sioux City man accused of ramming police cars on a chase that began in Nebraska has been sentenced to five more years in an Iowa prison. Woodbury County court records say 43-year-old Larry Johnson II pleaded guilty to felony eluding after prosecutors dropped an assault charge. His plea agreement says the sentence must be served after the remainder of his 15-year sentence for forgery. He was on parole when the chase occurred July 6.

The Nebraska State Patrol says a Nebraska trooper tried to stop Johnson’s pickup truck being pursued by South Sioux City police. Officials say the truck rammed the trooper’s car before crossing into Iowa.
Officials say the truck again rammed both the trooper’s car and a sheriff’s vehicle before becoming stuck on a median.

His Nebraska case is pending.

Atlantic Fire and Rescue were called at around 6:44-a.m. today to a rollover accident at 650th and Galveston Road, just east of Atlantic. One person was said to have suffered some cuts and abrasions to their hand. No other information is currently available.

(Radio Iowa) — The head of the union representing the largest share of state government employees is accusing the Department of Corrections of “downplaying” the severity of an incident at the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison. State prison officials, in a news release last Friday, said a guard was treated and released from a hospital after being punched and kicked by an inmate. AFSCME Council 61 President Danny Homan calls it an “incomplete portrayal” of the attack. He says video shows the inmate threw six punches and 13 “stomps to the head” while three other inmates attempted to slow down responding staff. Homan claims an inmate property search afterward found cocaine and a shank. While blaming Governor Kim Reynolds and Republicans, Homan calls staffing levels in Iowa prisons “dangerously low.” The governor’s office and the Department of Corrections issued statements in response to Homan’s claims.

Iowa Department of Corrections statement:

“Our staff and their well-being is the highest priority of this department. The department stands by its initial press release that was published after the assault occurred. It was both accurate and timely. After any assault on staff or other inmates, the department initiates an investigation into the incident. Any attempt to preemptively release the confidential details and evidence compiled as part of that investigation undermines the integrity of the investigation and the security of the correctional system. Attempts to politicize attacks on our staff damages the overall security of our facilities and the safety of our staff.”

Statement from Brenna Smith, Communications Director for Governor Reynolds:

“The Department of Corrections holds the safety and security of their team members with the highest priority.”

AFSCME news release issued 10/25:

AFSCME Council 61 President Danny Homan issued the following statement in response to the Iowa Department of Corrections’ incomplete portrayal of yet another correctional officer being attacked by an inmate at the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison:

“On Friday (Oct 19), the Iowa Department of Corrections distributed a press release detailing the assault on a correctional officer by an inmate at the Iowa State Penitentiary. Unfortunately, the DOC failed to release the full scope of the incident. In recent days, reports from eyewitnesses detail a situation far more serious than what the Department has led the public to believe.

“A total of four inmates were involved in the assault: one who threw six punches and 13 stomps to the head and three others who helped plan the assault and attempted to slow down the responding staff while the assault was taking place. Video footage shows the group of inmates plotting at a table and watching the correctional officer make his rounds. The inmate who assaulted the correctional officer had just completed a long-term restricted housing program intended to make him less dangerous. Additionally, cocaine and a shank were discovered during the shakedown and inmate property search following the incident. “Until yesterday (Wednesday), the Warden at ISP had refused to meet with union members over their concerns about the safety and security of staff within the facility. The dangerously low staffing levels at all of our correctional facilities mean that incidents like this one will continue to escalate in severity. When will Governor Reynolds and the legislative Republicans who have created this budget disaster realize that their carelessness is going to get someone killed?”