Governor Tim Walz’s Failed Approach to Minnesota’s 2020 Summer of Violence

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Civil Unrest and Radical Liberal Violence Set Minnesota Ablaze in 2020

During the summer of 2020, radical liberal violent agitators rioted throughout the Nation, causing tremendous destruction and leaving crumbled communities in their wake. Much of that violence was concentrated in the state of Minnesota, especially the city of Minneapolis.

• During the summer of 2020, following the death of George Floyd and the ensuing liberal violence and civil unrest in Minneapolis, at least 600 arrests, including the complete destruction of nearly 100 buildings.
• The damage caused by the protests and riots in Minnesota during the summer of 2020 had a significant financial impact on the community. The cost to taxpayers and insurance companies was substantial, with estimates reaching over $500 million. This Minnesota-specific figure included damage to approximately 1,500 properties, making it one of the costliest periods of civil unrest in U.S. history, second only to the 1992 Los Angeles riots​.
• The expenses covered a wide range of damage, including property destruction, looting, and fires. In addition to the immediate physical damage, there were costs associated with the response efforts, such as law enforcement, emergency services, and National Guard deployments.
• After the violence began, Governor Tim Walz waited 3 days to call in the National Guard for assistance during the riots. By the time the Guard was mobilized, the Minneapolis Police Department’s Third Precinct had already been overrun and set ablaze.
• “It was obvious to me that he froze under pressure, under a calamity, as people’s properties were being burned down,” said State Senator Warren Limmer (MN-37).

Governor Tim Walz: In His Own words

Rather than confront the violence and civil unrest head-on, Governor Walz took a passive approach, resulting in more damage and destruction to Minneapolis and beyond.

• Governor Walz downplayed the utility of the National Guard, derisively referring to the Guard as being comprised of “19-year-old cooks,” and not “massively-trained troops.”
• Despite the record levels of civil unrest and violence—​much of which was directed at law enforcement—​during the summer of 2020, Governor Walz and the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party supported a bill that sought to create a Community-Led Public Safety Coordinator that would “promote and monitor alternatives to traditional policing models.” Critics rightly criticized this effort as an end-around effort to defund the police.
• Governor Walz further criticized law enforcement when he stated, “We have a problem in Minnesota: This is the epicenter of an international movement demanding an end to police violence.”
• “Governor Walz had the ability and duty to use force and law enforcement to stop criminal violence, but he did not.” -Minnesota Senate Report on the 2020 Riots

An America First Solution To Liberal violence AND Civil Unrest

An America First approach to protecting our Nation’s communities from radical liberal violence and civil unrest requires the following:

• Accountability
  • Criminal perpetrators must be held accountable for their actions. Progressive criminal justice policies that coddle criminals will only make our communities more dangerous. Americans must insist on law and order, and that begins by ensuring criminals face consequences for their criminal behavior.
• Supporting Law Enforcement
  • Our Nation was founded on the principle of the rule of law and that no one group of people is above the law in our society. Our country’s law enforcement community is tasked with upholding this foundational element of our society, and we must support them in their efforts to do so. Anti-police sentiment and calls to “defund the police” only undermine the law enforcement community and make our Nation less safe.
• Ending Abuse of the Criminal Justice System by Rogue Prosecutors
  • Rogue progressive prosecutors have systematically undermined public safety in the communities in which they have implemented their liberal progressive criminal justice policies. Americans must demand that their local criminal justice officials actually uphold the obligations of their office and ensure that criminal perpetrators are held to account for their actions.