Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s response to the George Floyd riots in Minneapolis in 2020 left some residents concerned about the state’s leadership.
Now that Walz, 60, has been named Harris’ running mate for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination, those same residents are worried about the country’s possible new leadership next year.
“Where I live now, people are disgusted by Tim Walz, but where I live now is not representative of the majority of the population of Minnesota,” Max Reimer, who moved in 2020 with his wife and two children from a neighborhood south of downtown Minneapolis to a suburb about 45 minutes north of the city, told Fox News Digital.
“I still can’t believe there are people in the state who support him after what their residents have suffered over the past four years,” said Reimer, who is running as a Republican in Minnesota’s 28B House of Representatives.
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Max Reimer and his family moved from south of downtown Minneapolis to a suburb 45 minutes north of the city in 2020. (Max Reimer)
A man seen on surveillance video smashing the window of a south Minneapolis auto parts store days after George Floyd’s death was a Hells Angels member trying to stoke civil unrest, police say. (Mark VanCleave/Star Tribune via The Associated Press)
Reimer recalled that around that time, the owner of a roast beef restaurant near his former home “got robbed and shot.” “That had never happened before,” Reimer said.
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This includes COVID-19 lockdown orders that closed local restaurants and businesses, as well as the riots following the killing of George Floyd. Over 360 companiesViolent crime has increased across the state, especially carjackings, and Minneapolis’ immigration and refugee policies have helped it become the city with the largest Somali population in the U.S. According to the Minnesota nonprofit American Experiment, the state accounts for 25% of ISIS recruits in the country.
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The 2020 riots were so destructive that an entire police station in Minneapolis was burned down.
Minneapolis business owners Lloyd Drilling and Elijah Fima He told Fox News’ Martha MacCallum He said he called police after receiving a call from the store’s alarm on a riot night in 2021, but after 30 minutes there had been no response and he was told by the alarm company and police that he would have to deal with the situation on his own because authorities were overwhelmed that night.
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The building burned during the 2020 George Floyd riots. (Getty Images)
Town Talk Diner & Gastropub owners Charles Stotts and Casey White told “Fox & Friends” in 2020 that the couple got a call at about 4:30 a.m. on May 29, 2020, telling them to “turn on the TV right away,” Stotts said. When they turned on the TV, they saw the historic downtown restaurant on fire.
After the scene was made safe, Stotts and White went to the restaurant to see the damage for themselves.
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“It’s really moving to see the historical marker actually there amongst the rubble,” she said.
More people are moving out of Minnesota than are moving into the North Star State, which took a big hit in migration in 2020 but has since stabilized, according to state statistics.
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More people are leaving Minnesota than moving to the North Star State, which was hit hard in 2020 but has since stabilized, according to state statistics. (Minnesota Migration Report 2023)
“Between the chaos of the riots and COVID-19 restrictions, you go to the downtown business district and there’s almost no activity,” Reimer said, adding that some parts of the city, like Uptown, look very different from when he moved to the state in 2009 for college.
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Some Minnesotans have criticized Gov. Tim Walz’s response to the 2020 riots that destroyed Minneapolis businesses.
Protests have erupted across the country following the death of George Floyd in police custody. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
“I think he’s ultra-progressive,” Reimer said of Walz. “Maybe he hasn’t always been that way, but that’s the way he’s governed.”
others He told Fox News Digital In October 2020, some residents said they moved from Minneapolis to the suburbs due to riots, a surge in violence and business closures.
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Walz waited four days to send the National Guard to Minneapolis during the riots. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frye He told the Star Tribune that Waltz did not immediately respond to calls for help at the time.
Protesters are seen outside a burning fast-food restaurant in Minneapolis on May 29, 2020. Protests have erupted in Minneapolis for a third consecutive night over the death of George Floyd, a black man who died while in police custody on Monday. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
“[H]”He’s been a disaster for Minnesota and the most partisan governor I can remember,” Minnesota Republican Party Chairman David Hahn told Fox News Digital last month, when Walz was being touted as a vice presidential candidate. “Looking back at 2020, he certainly didn’t try to stop the riots that were happening in Minneapolis. I think he was afraid of alienating his ‘progressive’ base, who supported the riots. Kamala Harris is Raising funds for the mob“
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Still, Democrats welcomed Harris’ pick of Walz, describing the father of two as the quintessential “Minnesota dad” and highlighting his experience as a Minnesota state legislator, military veteran and social studies teacher rather than his time in office.
Democratic presidential candidate Harris is greeted by Minnesota Governor Tim Waltz, who is also a running mate, before speaking at a campaign event in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, on August 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
“Governor Walz is a strong leader. [l]”We have had the most productive session together as state legislators in decades,” Minnesota Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman previously said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Over the past two years, we have worked together to pass policies that will help Minnesotans improve the lives of themselves and their families.”
“The past two years have been a shining example of how Tim Waltz excels at working collaboratively with strong women to get things done,” Hortman added.
