From:
Phillip C. Parrish, LCDR, US Navy (Ret.)
Candidate for Governor of Minnesota, 2026
Date: April 22, 2025
To:
The Honorable Keith Ellison
Attorney General of Minnesota
445 Minnesota Street, Suite 1400
St. Paul, MN 55101
The Honorable Tim Walz
Governor of Minnesota
130 State Capitol
75 Rev Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55155
Dear Attorney General Ellison and Governor Walz,
As a retired Navy Lieutenant Commander with 21 years of service in intelligence, information dominance warfare, counterterrorism, and foreign policy, and as the 2026 candidate for Governor of Minnesota, I issue this urgent warning based on credible intelligence and traceable attacks targeting my campaign’s digital presence. These include coordinated social media disruptions and assaults on my official website, suggesting deliberate efforts to silence my voice and suppress free discourse in Minnesota. My expertise in IT data management and cybersecurity, honed through decades of countering digital manipulation, compels me to declare: I will deploy forensic audits to expose and hold accountable any individual, organization, or entity—including those tied to your offices—engaged in illegal tactics to censor conversations, disable profiles, or unlawfully stifle political opponents.
During my naval career, I witnessed firsthand how digital ecosystems can be weaponized to undermine democracy. Tactics I observed include:
• Blacklisting websites and emails under false pretenses, such as mislabeling them as malicious to block access, a covert method to silence dissent.
• Bot-driven campaigns flooding platforms like X with spam, harassment, or hashtags to drown out voices and manipulate algorithms.
• Influencer coordination to amplify smear campaigns or orchestrate dogpiling, eroding targets’ ability to engage publicly.
• Platform collusion to deplatform, shadowban, or throttle profiles, restricting reach without transparency.
These methods, when used against American citizens, violate First Amendment protections and betray public trust. Public evidence—such as federal agencies colluding with tech giants to flag content or third parties blacklisting media to choke revenue—confirms their feasibility. In Minnesota, any attempt to deploy such strategies, whether through state resources, private proxies, or covert means, will meet my unyielding resolve to expose and prosecute those responsible.
As a cybersecurity expert, I possess the technical prowess to trace illicit activities to their source. My forensic audits will scrutinize:
• Server logs and network traffic for evidence of coordinated suppression.
• Communication records linking state or private actors to censorship campaigns.
• Platform data revealing bot activity or algorithmic manipulation targeting my campaign or others.
These audits will uncover any efforts to silence Minnesotans, including the recent attacks on my campaign’s digital infrastructure. Be warned: I will pursue every legal avenue—up to and including federal referrals for constitutional or cyber violations—to ensure justice for those complicit in such acts, regardless of their position or affiliations.
My campaign for governor is a pledge to restore integrity and protect the rights of every Minnesotan. I will not tolerate attempts to manipulate our digital public square or punish citizens for their views, whether by state officials, their allies, or intermediaries. I call on you to unequivocally disavow and prevent any misuse of authority to suppress free speech in Minnesota. Failure to act risks emboldening those who undermine our democracy.
This is not a request but a warning: Minnesota’s democratic process must remain inviolate. My expertise and resolve will safeguard it. I stand ready to engage with your offices to ensure transparency, but I will not hesitate to act if evidence of wrongdoing emerges. The people of Minnesota deserve a government that upholds their voices, not one that silences them.
Respectfully,
Phillip C. Parrish
LCDR, US Navy (Ret.)
Candidate for Governor of Minnesota, 2026