Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey expressed strong criticism of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s reaction to the violence in his city during May 2020, stating later that year that the governor hesitated to deploy the National Guard while the city was engulfed in chaos following George Floyd’s death.
In an August 2020 discussion with the Star Tribune, Frey recounted that his office made several urgent requests for National Guard assistance to the governor, which went unanswered until after the city had to abandon a police precinct under siege.
Evidence obtained by the Star Tribune appears to support Frey’s assertions. Texts and emails show that Frey initiated a call to Walz on May 27, 2020, at 6:39 p.m., which was the second day of the unrest, specifically asking the governor to mobilize the National Guard.
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Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (Getty Images)
Walz, who has been the governor of Minnesota since 2019, was chosen as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate on Tuesday, reviving discussions about his management of both the COVID-19 pandemic and the riots that erupted in Minneapolis in May 2020.
Frey’s phone call to the governor on May 27, 2020, occurred shortly after he spoke to Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo, who informed Frey that a Target store near the police station was being looted and that he required the National Guard’s assistance.
“We expressed the seriousness of the situation. The urgency was clear,” Frey recounted regarding his conversation with the governor.
Frey remarked, “He did not say yes.” Instead, the governor stated he would think it over.
The mayor also indicated to the Star Tribune that he explicitly asked whether his verbal request was formal, a detail that Walz’s office later contested, although the evidence from texts and emails supported Frey’s position. One of Frey’s aides texted colleagues at 6:28 p.m. that Wednesday, explaining that the chief had requested calling the National Guard for aid at the Third Precinct, and that the mayor was inclined to follow through.
Later updates from Frey’s team revealed that the mayor had just contacted the governor. Frey’s spokesperson noted later that evening that “Walz was hesitating” about calling in the National Guard.
Frey informed the Star Tribune that he never received a definitive response about the National Guard’s deployment on that Wednesday night or the following morning.
Mayor Jacob Frey speaks to supporters at an election night party on Nov. 2, 2021, in Minneapolis. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
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The Minnesota Senate’s Joint Transportation and Judiciary and Public Safety Committee later released its findings regarding the sequence of events that unfolded that night, with the Republican-led committee asserting that Walz “failed to act” as the chaos in Minneapolis continued to escalate, as reported by the New York Post.
According to Republican state Senator Warren Limmer, “It was obvious to me that he froze under pressure, under a calamity, as people’s properties were being destroyed,” suggesting that the governor may have had “personal sympathies” toward the rioters.
The Senate report indicated that the request for the National Guard “was sent for at least 600 guardsmen at 9:11 p.m. on May 27,” but “Governor Walz eventually produced 100 guardsmen for the City of Minneapolis late on the evening of Thursday, May 28.”
The mayor’s office made another request for National Guard support the following morning, May 28, accompanied by a written plea highlighting “widespread looting and arson” and stating that both demonstrators and first responders had suffered injuries during the turmoil.
“The ongoing situation is well beyond the capability of our police and fire departments to respond,” Frey noted in his request.
A spokesperson for Walz informed the Star Tribune that the governor understands the extensive planning required for a successful National Guard operation, highlighting Walz’s background as a “24-year veteran of the Minnesota National Guard.”
“That’s why he required the City of Minneapolis to provide details and a strategy. He commanded the Minnesota National Guard to initiate preparations Thursday morning, which allowed them to deploy to both St. Paul and Minneapolis that same evening, in accordance with the Mayors’ requests,” the spokesperson explained.
People carry items out of a Target store in the aftermath of extensive rioting, looting, and arson in shopping and commercial areas of South Minneapolis after the killing of George Floyd, May 28, 2020. (Scott Takushi/MediaNews Group/St. Paul Pioneer Press via Getty Images)
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Walz’s administration also criticized Frey for allegedly lacking specificity in his request and claimed the mayor never communicated a need to safeguard the city’s Third Precinct, which would later be destroyed by fire.
The governor finally activated the National Guard at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 28, approximately 18 hours following Frey’s initial phone request. The Star Tribune noted that by 10:30 that evening, around 90 soldiers were on the ground in the city, even though police had already evacuated the Third Precinct.
Simultaneously with the National Guard deployment, the Senate committee reported that Governor Walz’s daughter, Hope Walz, was granted “access” to “confidential information that she then shared with the public and the rioters.”
Hope later tweeted several messages seemingly alerting protesters about the whereabouts of the National Guard.
“Could someone who actually has followers relay to the masses that have gotten ‘national guard’ trending that the guard WILL NOT be present tonight??” tweeted Hope, who the New York Post noted was born in 2001, on May 28, 2020.
“The guard cannot be sent in within minutes,” she continued in another tweet, adding that “it takes time for them to deploy because they come from all over the state.”
“To be clear, the national guard will not be present tonight,” she concluded.
An AutoZone store burns as protesters gather outside the Third Precinct in Minneapolis on May 28, 2020. (Mark Vancleave/Star Tribune via AP)
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“Just because someone asked for something doesn’t mean it’s happening immediately or even at all,” one of her tweets suggested in relation to the National Guard request. “I don’t know about SWAT, but what I know is that the guard will not be present arresting people tonight.”
Addressing Hope’s tweets, the Senate report criticized Walz, alleging that the governor “unnecessarily jeopardized the safety of police officers, Minnesota State Troopers, and the Minnesota National Guard” by disseminating this information to his daughter.
Nonetheless, on Friday, May 29, 2020, Walz held a press conference where he blamed Frey for the escalation of unrest, labeling the city’s response as an “abject failure.”
In response, Frey told the Star Tribune that the governor’s comments were a “sharp departure from every conversation we had had at that point,” describing Walz’s remarks as “definitely a hit in the gut.”
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Frey maintained that he did everything possible during an extremely challenging situation.
“I told the truth,” Frey stated. “I communicated information as effectively as I could to state partners. And we acted in accordance with the demands for the well-being of our city.”
Both Frey’s office and the Harris campaign did not respond immediately to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.
