Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey addressed a contentious room of reporters in the early morning hours on Friday after multiple buildings, including a police precinct, were lit on fire during protests over the death of 47-year-old George Floyd.
“The symbolism of a building cannot outweigh the importance of life, of our officers, or the public,” Frey said. “We could not risk serious injury to anyone, and we will continue to patrol the 3rd Precinct entirely. We will continue to do our jobs in that area, and you know, brick and mortar is not as important as life.”
Thousands of protesters poured into the streets of Minneapolis, and hundreds swarmed the city police’s 3rd Precinct before setting the building ablaze late Thursday night. Protesters torched an Autozone and an affordable housing complex on Wednesday.
After Frey made his opening statement, reporters began to question the city’s response to the third day of protests.
“Mayor, what’s the plan here?” asked a reporter. “What are we doing? Here in the streets, a lot of businesses have been burned down, a lot of livelihoods have been hurt. We’ve seen very little police out there just in general, at the 3rd and throughout, and I’m just wondering, what is the plan and who is in charge right now in this city?”
“There is a lot of pain and anger right now in our city. I understand that — our entire city recognizes that,” Frey replied. “What we have seen over the past several hours and the past couple of nights in terms of looting is unacceptable. Our communities cannot and will not tolerate it.”
On Thursday, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz mobilized the state’s National Guard.
