Husayn Braveheart is just twenty-one. But he’s making quite a name for himself by repeatedly escaping consequences for his violent and destructive behavior — his most recent escape coming at the hands of a Dakota County jury that acquitted him last week after a trial for fleeing police in a stolen motor vehicle in 2024.
Braveheart first made news in 2019, when at fifteen years old he joined another juvenile in a crime spree involving the murder of a carjacking victim (Steven Markey), two other armed carjackings, an assault, two residential burglaries, the theft of a car, a high speed chase and crash of that stolen car, and the possession of firearms by juveniles.
In an unbelievably absurd plea bargain in 2023, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty agreed to amend the charges for all these offenses to a single count of attempted first-degree assault of the murder victim, Markey. The agreement allowed Braveheart to serve just eight additional months in the Hennepin County Workhouse, before being released so he could receive treatment and counseling — far more than the system provided any of Braveheart’s victims.
Braveheart was released from the Workhouse on August 12, 2024. On September 12, a car was stolen from a residential driveway in NE Minneapolis, the same section of town where Braveheart had killed Markey during the carjacking in 2019.
According to court records, Eagan police spotted the stolen car two nights later and attempted to stop it. Braveheart was seen through the rearview mirror by pursuing officers (and later identified in court). He fled into Minneapolis at speeds over 100 MPH. Given Braveheart’s reckless driving, Eagan police allowed the Minnesota State Patrol helicopter to take over following the car by air and calling out its location over the police radio.
Braveheart stopped the car just off I-35 in south Minneapolis, and he and a female occupant got out and ran. A responding Richfield police officer arrived within a minute and began searching the yards adjacent to the car. Braveheart, who had been hiding, attempted to run away but was tased and secured by the officer. The female was also located and arrested nearby. It was 12:45 a.m. — nowhere near Braveheart’s residence, but there he was.
The Dakota County Attorney charged Braveheart with one count of fleeing police in a motor vehicle. He was remanded to the custody of the Dakota County Sheriff where he had remained in jail until his trial last week.
In a stunning development, the jury found there was “reasonable doubt” that Braveheart was the driver of the stolen car that fled Eagan police. The acquittal led to Braveheart’s immediate release from custody and is unlikely to trigger any revocation of his five-year probation period from his previous convictions.
We are left to wonder if Braveheart will now “resume” his treatment and counselling, which was “interrupted” by his latest contact with the police.
Chances are good that this won’t be the last time Minnesotans hear about Husayn Braveheart. Let’s just hope that no one is hurt or killed when we do.