House GOP targets former colleague Tim Walz in crime hearing

“Violent crime in Minnesota remains significantly elevated due to the lingering effects of the summer 2020 riots, in addition to the failure of the Department of Justice to hold criminals accountable following the riots and the violence that followed the death of George Floyd,” House Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Oversight Chairman Andy Biggs (R-AZ) said Wednesday during a hearing on “soft-on-crime” policies in America.

Republicans brought in two Minnesotans who had been personally affected by violent crime to discuss how Walz’s public safety policies had negatively impacted them and served as examples of the larger problem across the state. Their concerns, they said, were valid given Walz’s recent announcement as Kamala Harris’ vice presidential nominee.

Jim Schultz, president of the Minnesota Private Business Council, said the decline began in 2020, when the police killing of George Floyd, a Black man, sparked protests and riots in the streets that lasted for weeks.

“As governor, Tim Walz refused to deploy the National Guard for days, allowing the violence to escalate unchecked. As the flames burned his cities, Walz twiddled his thumbs,” Schultz said. “His inaction inspired violence across the country. The riots ultimately became the (second-) costliest in American history. Those horrific days showed that Tim Walz has mastered at least one skill: the art of standing idly by as his state descends into chaos.”

According to Biggs, the 2020 riots in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area resulted in destruction, looting and damage to 1,500 businesses; an $8 million cut in city police funding; and 67 buildings destroyed by fires.

BREAKING: Protesters light another fire. U.S. Park Police push them back with OC spray, “flash grenades.” Some protesters clash with police. They say the death of #GeorgeFloyd is “the straw that broke the camel’s back.” @nbcwashington @MSNBC photo.twitter.com/IQEafLw9An

— Shomari Steen (@shomaristone) June 1, 2020

Brian Ingram, founder and CEO of Purpose Driven Restaurants in Minnesota, testified that the business suffered one burglary in its first five years of operation. Since 2020, it has suffered more than a dozen burglaries.

Schultz said businesses in the Twin Cities have been closing “left and right” due to break-ins, theft and vandalism, often resulting in charges being dropped or a plea deal for the defendant.

“Large swaths of Minneapolis and St. Paul — after decades of successful growth and investment — have become ghost towns, largely driven by violent crime. Once a powerhouse known for generating companies like Target, Best Buy and General Mills, Minnesota now boasts the distinction of being the sixth-slowest growing economy in the country,” Schultz said.

Schultz pointed out to Walz that he failed to stop the Minnesota Freedom Fund when it raised $40 million that was used to bail out suspected criminals.

“Thanks to Kamala Harris’ favorite charity and Walz’s tacit support, violent offenders were given a Get Out of Jail Free card and Minnesotans paid the price with their lives,” Schultz said.

However, preliminary state figures released in January showed that crime across the state declined on all fronts in 2023, including murder, auto theft, robbery and rape.

Rep. Lucy McBath (D-GA) defended Democratic lawmakers and the White House’s record on crime, pointing to several bills passed during the Biden administration that took a tough stance on crime.

“Over the past four years, President Biden, Vice President Harris and congressional Democrats have taken action time and again to invest in law enforcement, prevent crime and ensure that those who commit crimes are held accountable,” McBath said. “Thanks to those laws, this year we are on track to have the lowest crime levels this country has seen in 50 years.”

McBath praised the American Rescue Plan, which passed in early 2021 and included $15 billion for public safety and violence prevention for local and state governments. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, passed in mid-2022, established enhanced background checks and created new codes that would allow individuals to be charged with gun trafficking.

However, these actions followed months of calls from Democrats in 2020 to defund the police, following Floyd’s death in 2020.

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Still, the committee’s top Democrat, New York Rep. Jerrold Nadler, criticized Republicans for holding what he called “nothing more than a campaign hearing for Donald Trump.” Trump spends part of every campaign rally touting crime statistics and national security concerns.

The Harris-Walz campaign did not respond to a request for comment.