OPINION:
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz mocked Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who, on May 27, 2020, as his city burned, issued an urgent call to the governor to send in the National Guard. Mr. Walz delayed action by more than 24 hours that May, amid the George Floyd protests and riots, as buildings, including a police precinct, went down.
“I don’t think the mayor knew what he was asking for,” Mr. Walz later said. “We’re going to have massively trained troops? No. You are going to have 19-year-olds who are cooks in some cases. And what are we going to do, and how are we going to use them?”
Mr. Walz had to know his spin wasn’t true. He served for 24 years in the National Guard, retiring as a master sergeant, though he told the world that he left at the higher rank of command sergeant major. That’s like a retired Army colonel telling people he was a general.
Mr. Walz knew the Minneapolis Guard, with combat air and ground units, including his artillery outfit, was considered top-notch. He just did not want to send them against left-wing destructors. After all, his wife said in an interview that she opened the window to let in the intoxicating smell of rioting.
But there is evidence the Guard was ready on May 27, the second day of bedlam.
I reviewed the Minnesota Guard’s annual 2020 report, which narrated its history from May 25, the day Floyd was murdered by city police.
Sure enough, the troops were ready to go on May 26 and the 27 if only the governor had heeded the Minneapolis mayor’s and the police chief’s request instead of waiting. He delayed until the evening of May 28, 2020 — after two days of rioting — sending 100 soldiers when the request was for at least 600 to start. He did not sign a written order until May 29.
The Guard’s annual report set the scene: “As the month of May came to a close, looting was rampant, fires raged in small businesses and a Minneapolis police precinct was burned to the ground. This unlawful activity threatened the safety of lawful and peaceful demonstrators and residents of the city.”
“By May 31,” the report continued, “more than 7,000 soldiers and airmen were on duty. It was the first full activation of the Minnesota National Guard for state active duty and the largest domestic deployment in the organization’s 164-year history. The Minnesota National Guard was fully integrated with local and state agencies executing a coordinated response.”
An open letter from Col. Timothy Kemp, commander of the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, said: “Within mere hours of receiving the call, you were in place and providing assistance to Minneapolis and its residents amidst destruction and under further threat of violence emerging from peaceful protests. In every action you took, you operated with great discipline while under immense pressure. Your arrival and presence brought a change in the tone throughout the metro. “
Think of the damage that could have been prevented had Mr. Walz activated the troops 24 hours early on May 27.
Republicans from the start criticized the Democrat’s portrayal of the 13,000-troop state Guard as teenage cooks.
State Sen. Jeff Howe said: “I am deeply disappointed that this is what Governor Walz, the Commander in Chief of the Minnesota National Guard, thinks of his soldiers. Minnesota is fortunate to have one of the best National Guards in the country, and each one of our National Guard members contributes to that distinction.”
Four years later, criticism of Mr. Walz erupted once Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, picked him as her VP candidate.
Sen. Tom Cotton, Arkansas Republican, posted on X on Aug. 6: “Tim Walz refused requests for the National Guard, allowing rioters to burn more than 1,500 Minneapolis businesses & a police station. More than half a *billion* $ in damage. Walz could have stopped it, if he wanted to. Picking Walz shows how radical Kamala Harris truly is.”
Conservatives have accused Mr. Walz of a series of “stolen valor” offenses. He wrongly claimed for years a retirement rank of command sergeant major. He said he carried a weapon into war when he had not. He implied he served on the ground in Iraq when he did not and failed to correct people in his presence who falsely said that he did.
The big offense, in the eyes of some fellow Guard soldiers, is that he retired in May 2005 after his field artillery unit learned they were headed to Iraq for what turned out to be over a 20-months of combat.
Some liberal press reports have attempted to exonerate him by noting the official Iraq orders did not come along until July 2005.
But there is ample evidence the Guard knew in early 2005 that they were likely deploying.
For example, a Pipestone (Minnesota) Country Star news report on March 23, 2005, was headlined “Guard Units Alerted.”
“Detachments of the Minnesota National Guard have been ‘alerted’ of possible deployment to Iraq in mid-to-late 2006,” the story said. One of the units was Mr. Walz’s 125th Field Artillery.
In October 2020, the Minnesota Senate issued a report on the bungled riot response.
It concluded: “The 2020 Minnesota riots were an unprecedented and catastrophic situation. People died; businesses were destroyed; and livelihoods were lost. Food and medicine became nearly impossible to obtain; employment disappeared; and fear reigned over the state. Over 1,500 properties were damaged at a value of over $500 million. This is three times as many businesses than are in the Mall of America. This is Minnesota, not war-torn Iraq or Syria.”
The Senate report added, “Over 18 hours after Minnesota National Guard assistance was initially requested and 15 hours after the written request for Minnesota National Guard assistance was given, Governor Walz had yet to decide if he was going to mobilize the Minnesota National Guard.”
• Rowan Scarborough is a columnist with the Washington Times.
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