The Minnesota governor unexpectedly announced this month that he wouldn’t run for re-election.
Walz had said this month that he would not seek re-election as governor — sending shock waves through state and national politics — but he did not go so far as to say he would not consider another elected position down the line.
In explaining his decision Wednesday, Walz talked about the scenes unfolding in Minneapolis between residents and federal officers. He said he found that there are “heroes on the streets that we don’t know their names.”
“They’re never going to run for office, and those grass-tops leaders brought this administration to their knees this week to do something about it. So there’s other ways to serve, and I’ll find them,” he said.
Yeah, that’s great. Bare minimum stuff if you ask me. I mean, his constituents are being murdered and he hasn’t stopped the people doing it. That’s a major faux pas in my book, but if you’re willing to overlook that, I guess he was a good governor.
Y’know, the Minnesota FOP issued a statement that they back ICE. Seems like Walz recognizes that from an official standpoint he has limited power, if he tried to (say) tell the state police to arrest ICE agents they may just “not find any” or they might openly defy the order. The MN National Guard may or may not respond but they’re also not really equipped for law enforcement operations.
Fact is, governmental power only works if people are following the law, and a lot of our “law enforcement” at every level in this country sees themselves as above the law. So if a civilian official tells them to do something they want to do, all good. If they’re told to do something that could lead to limitations in their power, they’ll at best refuse, at worst they might just remove the civilian leader in question.
This. Minneapolis police are a nightmare and I’m not sure what methods have historically worked for fixing that, but I do know that I have friends who live in neighborhoods that MPD won’t go to, not because they’re dangerous, but because they’re near George Floyd square
I see police in Uptown all the time. WTF are you talking about that police won’t go there?
Uptown? I’m talking Powderhorn. I think we have different definitions for close right now
Okay. Say it anyway. Make them defend themselves in public. I would love to hear them explain why they are defying a direct order from the Minnesota state government.
But also, no, the national guard would side with Minnesota civilians.
You keep saying that, but you haven’t said what he could do
Unfortunately US laws give federal law enforcement supremacy, and there is a reason for that
After the Civil War and during reintegration a lot of parts of the country did not want black people in their communities. A lot of towns supported lynchings. Local law enforcement did nothing when people of color were murdered. Hence laws were made to allow federal law enforcement to overrule local law enforcement, allowing feds to operate in a community even when the community is against it
The current situation is an unfortunare result of that history