Walz urges Minneapolis to help him restore order

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) is urging the city of Minneapolis to help him restore order as three days of violence have spilled out onto the streets following the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in the custody of four white police officers.

Walz in a press conference repeatedly vowed to swiftly get justice for Floyd, who was captured on camera saying he couldn’t breathe as an officer kept him pinned to the ground with his knee pressing into his neck before his body went limp.

While the four officers involved were fired, no arrests have been made — a matter that has further fueled the protests, rioting and looting.

“I am asking you to help us. Help us use humane ways to get the streets to get to the place where we can restore the justice so that those who are expressing rage and anger and demanding justice are heard,” Walz said. “Not those who throw firebombs into businesses.”

Walz acknowledged that his state and the city face a long road ahead to addressing the underlying racial issues but said that the first step will be to restore the streets to safety. 

“I want to be very clear and speak to that community: The very tools that we need to use to get control to make sure buildings aren’t burned and the rule of law collapses are those very institutional tools that have led to that grief and pain,” he said.

“These are things that have been brewing in this country for 400 years. We have people out there, putting themselves on the line to try to put out fires and our firefighters are under attack. Those are the things I am asking you: Help me restore that order,” Walz said.

Footage of the various fires and chaos has spread across the web, including protesters cheering as a fire engulfed the Minneapolis Police Department’s 3rd Precinct. Other business have also been set ablaze including a library, which Walz argued hurts efforts to raise up communities of color. 

“The achievement gap for our communities of color is a shame on this state — that we continue to mire by talking about, but don’t repair it. And a tool to help with that burned last night,” he said.

The death of Floyd, who was unarmed, has revived a national debate about issues of race, policing, bias and the criminal justice system.

Medical responders who took Floyd, 46, from police custody said they found him without a pulse.

In videotape of part of his arrest, Floyd can be heard saying: “I can’t breathe.”

“It is my expectation that the justice for the officers in this will be swift. That it will come in a timely manner. That it will be fair. That is what we asked for,” Walz said Friday.

“Thank god a young person had a camera to video it,” he added.