MINNEAPOLIS — Now that Vice President Kamala Harris has officially tapped Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her 2024 running mate, many voters want the record set straight about the timeline of events that followed in the wake of George Floyd's murder.
Still in his first term as governor on May 25, 2020, Walz was tasked with navigating the state's official response as the city of Minneapolis erupted into what would become an international civil rights uprising over Floyd's murder by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.
As protests grew and fires broke out throughout portions of south Minneapolis and the west side of St. Paul, the National Guard was eventually deployed, mobilizing thousands of citizen soldiers across the metro.
Just over a month later on June 19, 2020, former President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter (now known as X), he was actually the one to make the call, claiming he "Forced Democrat run Minnesota to bring in the National Guard & end rioting & looting after seeing the destruction & crime in Minneapolis."
Republicans have echoed the claim in recent days and weeks, increasingly so as Harris continued to narrow in on Walz as a potential partner for the Democratic presidential ticket.
So, what really happened? Here are the facts.
BACKGROUND
On May 25, 2020, officers responded to a call shortly after 8 p.m. about a possible counterfeit $20 bill being used at a corner store and encountered a Black man, later identified as George Floyd, who officers later handcuffed and placed face-down on the ground.
Officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyd's neck for 9 1/2 minutes while bystanders shouted at him to stop. Video showed Floyd repeatedly crying "I can't breathe" before going limp. He's pronounced dead at a hospital.
The next day, police issued a statement claiming Floyd died after a "medical incident," and alleged that he physically resisted and appeared to be in medical distress. Minutes later, a bystander video was posted online. Police released another statement saying the FBI would help investigate. Chauvin and three other officers — Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao — were fired. Protests began.
On May 27, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called for criminal charges against Chauvin, leading to protests and unrest in Minneapolis and other cities across the country.
HERE'S WHERE THE GUARD COMES IN
It was on May 28 that Gov. Tim Walz made the call to activate the Minnesota National Guard, a full mobilization for the first time in Minnesota's 164 years of statehood.
The full mobilization meant the guard activated all soldiers deemed medically fit and not already deployed, resulting in thousands of soldiers and airmen ready to hit the streets. Walz said at the time, "protection of citizenry and protection of property is our top priority and maintaining and restoring civil order on the streets."
KARE 11 reporter John Croman later obtained text messages and emails from a variety of Frey's staffers, who backed up the mayor's claim that he had requested Walz send in the Guard up to a full 24 hours before the 3rd Precinct would burn.
Walz would go on to agree he got an informal, verbal request from Mayor Frey late Wednesday, May 27, before the mayor submitted a formal, written request on the morning of Thursday, May 28. The governor maintained it took time to deploy citizen soldiers on a brand new mission with little advance notice.
"The average person maybe assumes that there’s soldiers waiting in helicopters to drop in like they do in movies," Walz told reporters in 2020. "Actually, they’re band teachers and small business owners. They’re folks working in a garage in Fergus Falls who get a call that says you’ve got 12 hours to report to your armory."
It was around 4 p.m. on the 28th that Walz's office sent out an official press release saying the governor had signed an executive order activating the Guard. About 15 minutes later, the Guard said on Twitter, “We are ready and prepared to answer the Governor’s request. We are currently in process of assigning and preparing units to respond.”
As KARE 11 previously reported, an email was sent by former MPD Chief Medaria Arradondo to Minnesota Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington around 9 p.m. Wednesday, May 27, laying out specifics of the police department's request for National Guard help.
However, it's unclear how and whether that particular information was communicated from Frey's office to Walz and/or National Guard leadership.
Later that evening, an e-paper trail of Tweets showed Trump threatened to send in the National Guard, posting his now-infamous line, "when the looting starts, the shooting starts." A disclaimer was subsequently added to the post after the social media company deemed the language as a violation of its rules about glorifying violence.
According to KARE 11's previous reporting, Walz had already put National Guard commanders on notice that they may need to deploy some members on Saturday, May 30 due to planned protests, but after an intense night of rioting and looting on May 27, Walz went ahead and requested the presence of Guard members on May 28.
While Trump did post about supporting Walz's decision should he seek military action, it wasn't until June 2020 that Trump started making public claims about calling in troops himself.
Walz vehemently denied that Trump had anything to do with the Guard's presence, a denial he maintains to this day — as Trump's claims have since been vetted and debunked.
WHO IS ALLOWED TO MOBILIZE MINNESOTA'S NATIONAL GUARD?
According to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, the mobiliization of Minnesota's National Guard troops is left to the governor of the state.
"The Minnesota National Guard is under state jurisdiction and can be called by the governor to assist the state during disasters or other state emergencies. The National Guard stands ready to provide units and specialists to the state to protect life and property, and preserve peace, order, and public safety.
"National Guard assistance may be provided when a situation is beyond the capacity of local, tribal, or state government to control and all civil resources have been exhausted and if required resources are not available from commercial sources. In addition, the Guard may be called when vital public services are lost and an immediate substantial threat to public health, safety or welfare is evident. Guard assistance is limited to tasks that the National Guard can perform more efficiently and effectively than any other agency."
Only under three circumstances is the federal government, i.e. the president, allowed to make the call:
- At the request of a state
- To enforce federal law
- To protect civil rights. This provision authorizes the president to use the military to suppress "any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy" if local law enforcement is unable to provide sufficient protection. It doesn't require the request — or permission — of the state
With that being said, it is a fact, that no, former President Donald Trump did not order mobilization of the Minnesota National Guard in response to the murder of George Floyd and subsequent unrest.
Official data proves Gov. Tim Walz, a National Guard veteran himself, was responsible for deploying soldiers to Minneapolis and surrounding communities.