Star Tribune
U.S. House Speaker hits Walz’s response to George Floyd riots outside former 3rd police precinct
Republican U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson made a pit stop in Minneapolis on Sunday to campaign with House GOP candidate Joe Teirab and preview the party’s line of attack against Gov. Tim Walz in his home state.
Standing outside what’s left of the old third precinct police headquarters that rioters burned after the police killing of George Floyd, Johnson, Teirab and U.S. Reps. Pete Stauber and Michelle Fischbach warned that the precinct stands as a symbol of what’s to come if Vice President Kamala Harris and Walz are elected in November.
“Right here, the hopes and dreams of countless small business owners and families literally went up in smoke,” Johnson said. “And as you can see from the charred and barricaded building right behind us here, four years later, this community still has not recovered from the aftermath.”
The Republicans blamed Walz for letting Minneapolis burn during the riots and they took aim at Harris for supporting the Minnesota Freedom Fund (MFF), a nonprofit that pays for bail and immigration bonds for those who can’t afford to do so themselves.
MFF was flooded with donations during the riots and helped bail out protesters. Harris also helped drive donations to the funds by posting about it on social media.
“While Tim Walz let Minnesota burn, it was Kamala Harris who poured gasoline on the flames by helping to bail out those who held the matches,” Johnson said. “Five days after the riots began, and there were millions of dollars in destruction, Kamala Harris helped raise money, not for the people whose businesses were being destroyed, or the lives that were ruined, but for the criminals who destroyed them.”
Just over a year into Walz’s first term as governor, Floyd was murdered by then-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Video footage of the killing ignited five days of protests that escalated into riots, causing roughly $500 million in damages across the Twin Cities, including the May 28 burning of the third precinct.
Since the riots, there’s been widespread debate over whether the National Guard should have been sent in earlier to quell the unrest. And there’s been blame over who was at fault for allowing the riots to spin out of control.
LAFAYETTE, Wis. — About 25 children and adults were injured Wednesday when a wagon carrying them overturned at a western Wisconsin apple orchard.
The children, parents and chaperones were on a field trip to the orchard in Lafayette when one of two wagons being pulled by a tractor turned sideways and rolled over, Chippewa County Sheriff Travis Hakes told reporters. Hakes said the tractor was traveling at a low speed when the wagon rolled over while going downhill.
Three people suffered critical injuries, while injuries to five others were considered serious. Authorities didn’t say how many of the injured were children.
The elementary school-age children attend a school in Eau Claire. Lafayette is northeast of Eau Claire.
After about five minutes and several warnings that students participating in the protest would be suspended,, the protesters exited Northrop and Cunningham continued her speech. They later gathered outside on the mall afterwards to shout, “Cunningham, you will see, Palestine will be free.”
Cunningham recounted the story of Norman Borlaug, the U alumnus and agronomist whose research in wheat saved millions from starvation, and said she would prioritize keeping a college education affordable for students.
Cunningham actually took over presidential duties on July 1, replacing Interim President Jeff Ettinger. She oversees a budget of more than $4 billion to run the university’s five campuses, which enrolled more than 68,000 students and employed 27,000 people during the last academic year.
She was chosen for the job last winter over two other candidates: Laura Bloomberg, president of Cleveland State University and former dean of the U’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs, and James Holloway, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at the University of New Mexico. She is the U’s second woman president, following Joan Gabel who held the office from 2019 to 2023.
Cunningham will be paid more than $1 million per year — about $975,000 in base pay and an additional $120,000 in retirement contributions. The compensation puts her in the top quarter of Big Ten university presidents.
Sgt. Gordon Blackey, once a security guard to Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, allegedly admitted to tracking the woman’s movements in her vehicle, according to a criminal complaint.
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