Senate GOP Proposes Cutting Minneapolis Local Aid To Reimburse Other Cities For Law Enforcement Help During Chauvin Trial

By Ricardo Lopez, the Minnesota Reformer

February 4, 2021

Ahead of the high-profile trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin next month, Senate Republicans on Thursday proposed withholding local government aid to Minneapolis in order to pay for any law enforcement assistance from other cities for anticipated demonstrations.

Minnesota leaders are bracing for potential unrest during the murder trial of Chauvin, who is accused of killing George Floyd last summer, touching off weeks of national demonstrations as well as arson, looting and rioting.

Gov. Tim Walz is urging lawmakers to approve $35 million in state funding to help pay for law enforcement costs throughout the trial. Walz on Wednesday said the request would help prevent a repeat of last summer, which saw a sluggish response by state leaders.

Minneapolis leaders, including Mayor Jacob Frey, and others later blamed Walz’s slow response for the widespread destruction in Minneapolis.

Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, R-East Gull Lake, said his caucus is proposing that Minneapolis be on the hook for any law enforcement costs related to the trial, castigating them for their decision to divert $8 million in funding from the police department toward other public safety measures.

“Minneapolis should be expected to have adequate police,” Gazelka said.

Gazelka also said that preventing rioting should be a goal. “I think we should aim to have no riots,” he said, adding that there should be outreach to influential community leaders to prevent demonstrations from turning destructive.

Pressed by a reporter on how outreach would prevent outsiders from coming to Minneapolis, Gazelka sidestepped the question and said “outreach is part of it” and emphasized Walz has the power and responsibility to mobilize the National Guard to quell any unrest.

In the aftermath of the destruction in Minneapolis, police arrested and convicted Minnesotans from across the state, including rural communities like Brainerd and Staples.

Republicans continued to hit at Minneapolis leaders for their “defund the police” efforts last summer. On Wednesday, Gazelka issued a statement saying “actions to defund the police have consequences.”

A request to a spokesman seeking comment from Frey was not immediately returned Thursday.

Ahead of the press conference, Walz’s office released a letter showing that in December, Senate Republicans had requested $7.6 million in state funding for the Minneapolis Police Department.

“It is our hope that you share with us the desire that this devastation that our community experienced will never happen again,” state Sen. Scott Newman, R-Hutchinson, wrote late last year. “In that light, we ask that you urgently consider this funding request from the Minneapolis Police Department for ‘Operation Safety Net.’ The goal of this is to prevent a recurrence of the violence we experienced last summer.”

Gazelka was among the seven Senate Republicans who signed the letter.

The Minnesota Reformer is an independent, nonprofit news organization dedicated to keeping Minnesotans informed and unearthing stories other outlets can’t or won’t tell..