ST PAUL, Minn. — They weren't face-to-face with rioters themselves, but three union leaders wanted to tell the stories of those officers who were enveloped by the street violence and other civil unrest that followed the killing of George Floyd.
The Minneapolis Police Federation board members spent two and a half hours testifying before Minnesota Senate oversight committee looking into the riots, arson files and looting of businesses that followed Floyd's death.
Officer Richard Walker said the people who risk their lives patrolling the streets feel that city leaders have abandoned them, and morale is at an all-time low within the department.
"They're scared to death to answer calls in case something turns violent," Officer Walker told senators. "Because they're actively trying to send us to prison. Cops are scared of dying and they're scared of going to prison."
He said he was at union headquarters on May 28 when he received word that he and fellow officers needed to go to the Third Precinct and clean out their lockers because the building was to be evacuated later that night. It was set afire later by rioters who had targeted the building because its where the officers now charged in Floyd's death were bases.
Two other federation officials, Sgt. Anna Hedberg and Sgt. Sherral Schmidt, told lawmakers of conversations they've had with dozens of officers who were inside the Third Precinct while it was still under siege.
"All I said to him was, ‘How are you doing?’ and Brooke broke down in tears and said, ‘My department left me in there to die'," Sgt. Schmidt explained. "And he texted his wife and said he thought he was going to die that night. Those are very hard things to hear from your cops."
Democrats on the committee expressed sympathy for the officers who are struggling with morale and mental health issues following the riots. But the also noted their Republican counterparts have now held four hearings on the riots and other unrest, but haven't held one examining how George Floyd and other unarmed Black men have been killed by police.
"I commend all the public servants and all the troopers and police who handled this because there were zero deaths," Sen. Melisa Franzen, an Edina Democrat, remarked.
"We should be thinking about why people are protesting, why are they taking to the streets. We need to talk about how we can avoid the killing of a Black man that happened on a public street, by a public servant."
Sen. Scott Newman, the Hutchinson Republican presiding over the oversight hearings, said that was a discussion to be held a different day. These hearings are supposed to be about the riots and ensuing criminal activity.
Morale hit
Sgt. Hedberg said officers working inside the Third Precinct before it was evacuated were sending final goodbye texts to their families and truly planned to save one bullet to shoot themselves with if rioters were to breach their office.
She said they felt their hands were tied, and in some cases weren't allowed to suit up with riot gear because superiors worried it would only antagonize demonstrators.
That raw emotion was compounded, according to Hedberg, when a veto-proof majority of the Minneapolis City Council announced a plan to restructure the department. The Council has proposed a charter amendment that, if approved by voters, would allow the council to divert part of the money now spent on policing to other human service response teams.
"We have council members constantly reminding us how bad we are. Why would you show up for work?" Hedberg remarked.
"It's not just the riots. It's everything after the riots. It's the constant reminder of how much people think that we suck and are hated, and we are the bad guys!"
At least 17 officers have filed Workers Compensation claims with the City of Minneapolis, attempting to get the city to pay for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder treatment they say was caused by working the riots. A Twin Cities attorney told reporters he's been contacted by 150 officers who are interested in applying for duty-related disability early retirement due to PTSD.
The Minneapolis Police Federation has consistently supported Republican candidates in political races and sold "Cops for Trump" tee-shirts before the president's rally at Target Center in October of 2019. The president of the union, Bob Kroll, stood on stage with President Trump and thanked him for backing law enforcement.
Senate Republicans scheduled the hearings on lawlessness with the stated goal of finding out why the burning and looting wasn't stopped sooner, and which Democrat leaders were responsible for mistakes and miscalculations.
GOP lawmakers have also regularly stated they oppose defunding or dismantling police departments, as part of their rhetoric surrounding police reform proposals at the State Capitol. None of the DFL-sponsored bills would defund any department, but one measure would've provided funding to assist communities setting up alternative human services safety net response teams.
Still, the Minneapolis City Council's use of the terms "defund" and "dismantle" to describe their proposed city charter amendment has been a huge political gift to the strategists who craft Republican campaigns and messaging.