Personal Lives
Minnesota lawyer on Winter Olympics curling team speaks out about home state, constitution, rule of law
Rich Ruohonen, a member of the U.S. men’s curling team and a plaintiff personal injury lawyer from Minnesota, spoke out about events in his home state during a press conference at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics this week. Here he is shown curling in 2022. (Photo by David Berding/Getty Images)
A Minnesota lawyer on the curling team for Team USA at the 2026 Winter Olympics shared his thoughts about freedom of the press, the rule of law and events in his home state at a press conference in Italy this week.
Speaking at the event in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, attorney Rich Ruohonen responded to a moderator’s invitation to offer any parting words, USA Today reports.
“I’m proud to be here to represent Team USA and to represent our country. But we’d be remiss if we didn’t at least mention what’s going on in Minnesota and what a tough time it’s been for everybody. This stuff is happening right, right around where we live,” Ruohonen said.
According to USA Today, six of the 11 athletes in Cortina for USA Curling are from Minnesota. Ruohonen is from Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, which is about 18 minutes north of Minneapolis, where U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have shot and killed two civilians, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, according to USA Today.
“I am a lawyer, as you know, and we have a constitution,” Ruohonen continued, “and it allows us to (have) freedom of press, freedom of speech, protects us from unreasonable searches and seizures, and makes it that we have to have probable cause to be pulled over. And what’s happening in Minnesota is wrong. There’s no shades of gray. It’s clear.”
Ruohonen, a plaintiff personal injury lawyer, has been named “Attorney of the Year” six times by the Minnesota Lawyer, USA Today reports.
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