A former Minnesota senator, who was previously mayor of St. Paul, is speaking out against local leadership for being “invisible” during the unrest prompted by the death of George Floyd.
“What’s tragic has been the response in the community, the looting, the breaking, the violence, the destruction, the police station being burnt down with the mayor giving the order to abandon the station,” Norm Coleman told radio host John Catsimatidis on Sunday. “Absolutely stunning. We’ve had two mayors that have been relatively silent and absent.”
“Both mayors have been almost invisible,” he added of Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter.
Violent protests have erupted across the country as demonstrators demand justice for Floyd with Minneapolis at the heart of the public unrest. Floyd, a 46-year-old unarmed black man, died after white police officer Derek Chauvin restrained him by pushing his knee onto his neck until he was unconscious. Floyd can be heard in a viral video pleading with the officer saying he can’t breathe.
Following the incident, Chauvin was fired from the force and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Three other officers involved with Floyd’s detainment were fired but have not been charged.
Frey, Carter, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz initially blamed destructive activity on out-of-state residents but later walked back the comments when it became clear that the majority of those arrested were from Minnesota. President Trump also condemned local leadership, especially Frey, for responding to the unrest by sending in the National Guard to help control the situation.
Coleman echoed the president’s thoughts that left-wing organizations such as antifa could be behind some of the protests in Minneapolis. He also pushed back on Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s quoting Martin Luther King Jr. by referring to rioting as the unheard being heard.
“That was maybe a different time,” Coleman said. “When you’re burning down buildings, when you’re looting pharmacies … when you’re doing all sorts of violence and destruction, that’s not the unheard. Those are criminals, those are thugs.”
The former mayor also credited those peacefully protesting, calling them “legitimate.”
Coleman, a Republican, represented Minnesota as a senator from 2003 to 2009. Prior to that, he was mayor of St. Paul from 1994 to 2002.
