ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Gov. Tim Walz called for mandatory training for Minnesota’s mayors on the National Guard’s processes in the wake of rioting in Minneapolis and St. Paul.
The Walz administration recently accused Mayor Jacob Frey of not taking the training, although the National Guard could not definitely say whether Frey attended training.
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‘Thrown under the bus’: Text messages detail Minneapolis frustration
More than 24 hours before the fall of the Third Police Precinct, Minneapolis City officials knew they had lost control of the city and needed help.
Earlier this month, the FOX 9 Investigators obtained 790 pages of text messages, emails, documents and briefing notes from the city of Minneapolis under the state’s open public records law.
Text messages between Minneapolis officials show their frustration with the Governor and his administration in response to the riots and aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd, calling it privately a “slow roll” of the deployment of the National Guard.
State officials countered, saying, on background, that Minneapolis officials were too vague in their request for the Guard. When questioned by reporters about the city’s request for the National Guard on May 27, the Governor said the city’s request was not specific enough.
“I don’t think the mayor knew what he was asking for,” Walz said. “He wanted the National Guard, and what does that mean?”
The state accused Frey of not participating in the National Guard training given to elected officials. Frey’s office pushed back saying the city’s emergency manager is a past president of the Minnesota Association of Emergency Managers, the group that puts on one of the training events.