FLASHBACK: Minneapolis Police Sergeant Said Tim Walz Told Them to Give Up Precinct During Riots
“…when the governor says to give up the precinct, I mean, that’s…that’s demoralizing for the whole state.”
More and more keeps coming out about Minnesota Gov. Walz, now the presumptive Democratic VP candidate, and his failure during the BLM riots after the death of George Floyd in 2020.
A Twitter account unearthed a video of Minneapolis Police Sergeant Anna Hedberg saying that she heard Walz telling them to abandon the Third Precinct, which burned during the riot.
“I was in the command post, and I heard it. I heard the governor say, ‘Give it up.’ It wasn’t directly to me. It was through a phone call, and when the governor says to give up the precinct, I mean, that’s…that’s demoralizing for the whole state.”
Officer Rich Walker Sr. expanded on the feelings.
“I believe I speak for every Minneapolis police cop when I tell you that I’ve never been more publicly humiliated.”
Walker added more on the crime.
“The crime is rampant in Minneapolis right now.”
"I heard the Governor say 'Give it up'"
-Minneapolis Police Sergeant Anna HedbergMinnesota Governor Tim Walz gave orders to allow the Third Precinct to burn, abandoning Minnesota families and police in favor of BLM rioters. pic.twitter.com/X1NYjKA40p
— Clarity (@covid_clarity) August 12, 2024
Walz quickly refuted Hedberg’s testimony:
“The only decision Gov. Walz made involving the Third Precinct was the mission he ordered to reclaim the building early Friday morning after it was abandoned Thursday night,” said Teddy Tschann, the Walz spokesman. “That mission was carried out successfully by the Minnesota State Patrol at the governor’s direction after he assumed opera
tional control following the loss of the police station.”
Minneapolis Gov. Jacob Frey said he asked Walz on May 27 to deploy the National Guard, 24 hours before the evacuation of the Third Precinct:
On Wednesday, May 27, the second evening of unrest around the Third Precinct, Frey said Police Chief Medaria Arradondo called him at 6:23 p.m. to say that the Target store near the police station was being looted and that he needed the National Guard.
Frey said he immediately telephoned Walz, at 6:29 p.m., relayed information, and asked him to send in the National Guard. “We expressed the seriousness of the situation. The urgency was clear,” Frey said.
“He did not say yes,” Frey said of Walz. “He said he would consider it.”
Frey insisted that he explicitly asked whether his verbal requests constituted a formal request, and the governor’s staff confirmed that they did. The governor’s office disputes that.
The next text:
They show that at 6:28 p.m. Wednesday, Frey’s spokesman, Mychal Vlatkovich, texted a small group of employees in the mayor’s office: “Mayor just came out and said the chief wants him to call in the national guard for help at Third Precinct. Mayor appears intent on doing.” Frey’s policy director, Heidi Ritchie, later updated the group: “He called the governor just now.”
In a separate text conversation later Wednesday night, Vlaktovich said Frey indicated “Walz was hesitating.”
Frey said he received no confirmation the National Guard was coming the rest of Wednesday night or the following morning.
Frey asked for the Guard at 11:30 in a formal request.
Then at 10:55 AM on Thursday:
A city news release about his request for the Guard was drafted Wednesday but never sent.
Frey first revealed to the Star Tribune that he had asked for the Guard at 11:30 p.m. that night.
At 10:55 a.m. Thursday, Frey’s office followed up with a written request for the National Guard, noting “widespread looting and arson” and that protesters and first responders had been injured.
“The ongoing situation is well-beyond the capability of our police and fire departments to respond,” Frey wrote.
Walz activated the National Guard on Thursday afternoon:
Walz activated the National Guard at 2:30 p.m. Thursday May 28. But eight hours later, only 90 National Guard soldiers were on the ground across the Twin Cities. By that time, officers had already evacuated the Third Precinct after it was besieged by protesters.
Walz and his office also tried to refute Frey. Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington claimed the requests were “rather vague.” They needed more details to activate the National Guard.
Frey and others couldn’t believe Walz’s press conference on Friday morning:
Frey described his dismay watching Walz’s news conference Friday morning as the Third Precinct smoldered.
With Major General Jon Jensen of the Minnesota National Guard next to him, Walz called the city’s response an “abject failure.”
Walz had not warned him this public rebuke was coming, although they had a meeting shortly beforehand, he said.
“It was a sharp departure from every conversation we had had at that point,” Frey said. He described the governor’s assessment as “definitely a hit in the gut.”
“Not just for me, but for so many in our city that were doing everything they could. … Everyone was pouring themselves into stemming the violence,” he said.
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Comments
Minneapolis riots?
Well, there you go—proof that Walz was in a war zone.
What? You mean watching on tv doesn’t count? Well, what about smelling burning rubber through an open window? Surely that must count for something.
Walz was reluctant to order National Guard reinforcements because he thought their racial make-up might be too white.
He’d rather the state’s biggest city burn out of control.
So when the going got tough, he abandoned the police and the law abiding citizens. Hmm… noticing a trend here…
Weasel Walz at work.
Way to go “Coach.” Knute Rockne would be proud. “Give it up.” Such joy.
It was a joyous response.
Why is it that we so often see turds like Walz float to the top of government?
Do only sociopaths have what it takes to make it in these roles?
the city council voted to abandon the precinct using their typical “thinink”
if we let them have this they will stop being violent…errrr..peacefully protesting
correction:
thinking
This pervert does not have any common sense.
MN is a bat shit crazy state!
I maybe missing something here. How dose the governor have command and control ove a city police department? Is Minnesota weird in this respect?
Hamas delenda est
Sorry about the bad spelling.
The police had a duty to repel the rioting forces with lethal force if needed. Giving up the precinct was the equivalent of giving up Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge in WW2. Police have a moral duty to control a riot and no duty to follow orders to the contrary. They exist to protect the people and their property and not the political aspirations of the politicians. This also includes the leaders of the MN National Guard.
One would think. But the fact is that the police are beholden to their superiors and cannot “go rogue” without losing their jobs, their pensions, and possibly their freedom. Stand down orders from blue state governors, mayors, and crackerjack police chiefs are what they are: stand down orders. LEO’s can’t just start doing whatever they want, willy nilly. This is why it’s so important to stop ALL efforts to nationalize/federalize all police and put even the tiniest town’s police force under Executive branch scrutiny and rule. This is happening, and it’s far more urgent than we might like to think.