'Choot 'em!
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I saw this a couple of days ago but was hesitant about linking it because it just seemed too outrageous.
It wasn't during the COVID lockdowns. It was the enforcement by the National Guard of the George Floyd curfew.
From the RWEC (emphases mine):
It wasn't until the fifth night of rioting -- May 30 -- that Walz fully authorized them to quell the rioting.
However. Even with that as context, this video shows an appalling use of force against residents who weren't even on the street. At this point, the curfew required people to be off all Minneapolis streets by 8 pm, which the residents obeyed. They still sat on their porches and stood in their yards, which is their right and which wouldn't have violated any lawful curfew order. The law-enforcement agents (probably a blend of MPD and NG) opened fire with non-lethal force on people who were lawfully on their own properties. They had no legal obligation to get off their porches and back into their houses.
Furthermore, as the video shows, there wasn't any unrest in this neighborhood to quell. The streets were empty, and the residents were peacefully abiding on their own property. The Whittier neighborhood is located within the general area of the rioting (north of Lake Street and east of Lyndale Ave), and certainly some rioters may have passed through it to avoid law enforcement. The only people disturbing the peace in this video, though, are those enforcing an illegitimate version of a curfew. It's such a bizarre act that one can see how people misinterpret it as a COVID-19 enforcement mechanism
Who gave the order that instructed these forces to apply force against people on their own property? Did that order come from Walz? Probably not, but Walz is responsible for their actions, and for not allowing them to take action that could have forestalled most of the riot damage. It took him five days of rioting to authorize their use in ending the violence and destruction in the Twin Cities, and Walz apparently didn't do much to ensure that they operated rationally and effectively, especially in areas where no violence was taking place.
