Unified Command Control Hoping to Stop Twin Cities Violence
MINNEAPOLIS -- Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and several of the state's law enforcement leaders held a news conference Friday morning to address the violence and protests that have been happening in the Twin Cities.
We have to restore order to our society before we can start addressing the issues.
Walz says "these are things that have been brewing in our country for 400 years". He also apologized for the arrest of a CNN reporter that happened early Friday morning.
Walz says that there was ``abject failure'' in the response to this week's violent protests in Minneapolis.
Major General Jon Jensen says nearly 500 National Guard soldiers have performed four specific missions including securing the State Capitol, the Ramsey County Law Enforcement Center and Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Buildings, and escorting the Minneapolis Fire Department responding to fires. He says they have a "Clear and Security Mission" in support of the Minnesota State Patrol near the 3rd Police Precinct in south Minneapolis.
We would follow the state patrol and we would help secure the area that they cleared. Our soldiers remain in that area as I speak now, still on that mission, still securing that location, so people and MnDOT can begin the cleanup of that area.
Department of Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington says they are now preparing for what may come today.
Our task today is that we are bringing a unified command of metro area police departments, sheriff's offices, and other law enforcement jurisdictions and other public safety entities.
Violence has erupted in the Twin Cities for three nights in a row since the death of George Floyd on Monday.