Ed Morrissey: Do Minnesota Democrats Want Another Riot?

Thursday, January 8, 2026

Nearly six years ago, Minneapolis burned for days after the death of George Floyd. That riot, fueled by rage-filled rhetoric, touched off riots in other American cities. Lives were lost, businesses destroyed and Minneapolis has never really recovered.

Did anyone learn a lesson about leadership and measured responses? Not in Minneapolis.

Mayor Jacob Frey watched his city burn that summer. And this week: After an immigration officer shot and killed a driver that attempted to run him down, Frey had an opportunity to call for calm and ask Minnesotans to wait for a proper investigation.

Instead, he screamed expletives into a microphone, claimed ICE is “killing people,” and that they should “get the [blank] out of Minneapolis.”

Embattled Governor Tim Walz was little better than Frey this week, calling DHS a “propaganda machine.”

They learned nothing from 2020. Frey and Walz want to pander to outrage rather than govern rationally.

This is not leadership.

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