Identifying Occupy Duluth protesters

How many people knew that Occupy Wall Street had branched out to Duluth, Minnesota? According to this WDIO article, they're quite the feisty bunch:

Local protestors who are a part of the movement dubbed "Occupy Duluth" are making a statement with their rally. They're preparing to protest through the night.

Dozens of supporters showed up at the Minnesota Power Plaza starting at 9 o'clock this morning. They're protesting in solidarity with those who have been camping out near Wall Street in New York. They've held several rallies and meetings within the last week preparing for occupation. Today there was music, a tent, and other accommodations to encourage anyone to join in.

"We're just trying to set up a festive, fun, family friendly atmosphere where people can discuss the state of the union," says Tyler Nord, the facilitator of Occupy Duluth. "I think it's great that the president has the opportunity to do that but I also think it's great for people to have a safe environment to discuss their points of view."

Tyler Nord has an interesting history. Make that an interesting criminal history:

A University of Minnesota Duluth student involved in planning this week’s Occupy Duluth demonstrations had an unusual run-in with the law in 2008, an alleged attempted baby snatching and says he’s sorry for it.

Tyler Ray Nord, 23, from Wolverton, Minn., was charged in June 2008 with attempted felonious restraint for trying to pull a baby carrier holding a 7-week-old boy away from the infant’s mother. The woman said she grasped the carrier and Nord pulled her along with it because she wouldn’t let ago.

Authorities said Nord only let go when a friend intervened and asked him what he was doing. His friend said the incident was out of character for Nord.

That's the sanitized version of the story. Here's a more complete version of the incident:

Amanda Steckler didn't know what to think when the dreadlocked stranger approached her garage and picked up the baby carrier holding her 7-week-old son.

"That's all right, I got him," she told the man, thinking he might just be trying to help her carry the boy inside her south Fargo apartment building. Her 2-year-old daughter was still in the car.

The stranger asked where she lived.

Steckler repeated herself. "That's OK, I got him. I have to get my daughter out," she said, her hands now tugging firmly on the carrier.

The stranger started to pull.

Steckler pulled back.

"He was basically pulling me along with him because I wouldn't let go of it, and then I hollered for help," she said.

"All I could think of was to not let go."

Authorities say Tyler Nord, 20, of Duluth, Minn., let go of the carrier only after his friend, Steven Kressin, ran over to the garage and demanded to know what he was doing.

Kressin provided this additional insight into the incident:

Kressin, who went to high school with Nord in Breckenridge, Minn., said that as they walked back to his apartment after the incident, Nord "was pretty out of it" and said he "needed his meds."

Let's briefly summarize things thus far. The leader of the Occupy Duluth protests, the man who's preaching about creating "a festive, fun, family friendly atmosphere where people can discuss the state of the union" pled guilty to misdemeanor unlawful restraint in 2008.

Nord isn't the only colorful person associated with the Occupy Duluth Movement. Meet Joel Kilgour:

So when President Bush visited Duluth, Minn., for a Bush-Cheney rally on July 13, just one week after Almosaleh’s arrest, it wasn’t surprising that the Secret Service was on alert. It had even done some homework, identifying three specific men to watch for. Fliers with photos of the men were taped to tables at the Secret Service’s security checkpoints at the rally, apparently to aid agents in spotting and stopping the men before they could harm the president.