By Thursday, May 28, 2020, riots had plagued the city of Minneapolis for over three days. The Black Lives Matter rioters focused much of their attention on the Minneapolis Police Department's 3rd Precinct as officer Derek Chauvin, who was later convicted of killing George Floyd, had been assigned to that station.

The day after the video of George Floyd being arrested by Chauvin went viral, May 25, rioters attacked the 3rd Precinct and would continue to do so until the thinly stretched officers were ordered to evacuate the building on Thursday. As scenes of their retreat and the fire that consumed the front of the station were blasted across the American media, many people were asking: Where is the Minnesota National Guard?

While Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) received much-deserved criticism for how his administration handled the widespread riots, the decision to deploy a state's National Guard rests on either the president or the governor.

'The fall of the 3rd Precinct, and damage to surrounding areas, had set the tone for the rest of country during that turbulent period.'

In 2020, Frey told the Star Tribune that Governor Tim Walz (D) and his administration had dithered as the situation across from St. Paul continued to deteriorate. "We expressed the seriousness of the situation. The urgency was clear," Frey said about a phone call he had with Walz on Wednesday, May 27. "[Walz] did not say yes. He said he would consider it."

Frey said he had asked the governor's office whether his verbal request for National Guard troops was considered a formal request. Walz's office said it was but then later walked that back, saying the state needed a plan on how soldiers were to be used.

A group chat with staffers from Frey's office said Walz was "hesitating" about deploying the Guard.

"Walz was not only complicit, but many at MPD believe he was one of main reasons they had to watch one of their precincts burn in 2020, while being forced to abandon it," a Minneapolis police officer who served during the BLM riots told Blaze Media.

Members of Minnesota's National Guard were fully deployed on Friday, the May 29, the day after the 3rd Precinct was evacuated and burned. However, it was clear they were given orders to engage with rioters as little as possible. This was exemplified when a curfew was announced to people who had gathered at the National Guard and police perimeter near the 3rd Precinct. The curfew's announcement caused the crowd to start attacking the security perimeter. Instead of holding their ground, the guardsmen and officers withdrew from the area entirely, using tear gas to cover their retreat.

The rioters were once again in control of the area around the 3rd Precinct and followed law enforcement down Lake Avenue in an attempt to burn down the 5th Precinct, but they were unsuccessful. Instead, rioters turned their attention to looting and burning buildings on the rest of Lake Street.

The fall of the 3rd Precinct and the damage to surrounding areas had set the tone for the rest of country during that turbulent period. It signaled to those on the far-left that if they put enough pressure and had the numbers, they could get U.S. police officers to abandon their stations.

That strategy was nearly replicated in Seattle a few days later, when then-Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan (D) ordered Seattle police to leave the East Precinct after days of rioting outside. The order led to the creation of the infamous "Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone," also known as the "Capitol Hill Occupy Protest."

"If there’s a silver lining to this [Walz] nomination," a Minneapolis police officer told Blaze Media, "it’s that the rest of the county, and world, will finally get to hear the truth of his complete failure of leadership, and abandonment of his LEOs during the 2020 riots."

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