Minnesota Governor Fully Mobilizes State National Guard

Let’s be very clear: The situation in Minneapolis is no longer in any way about the murder of George Floyd. It is about attacking civil society, instilling fear and disrupting our great cities. With that being the case, as we indicated last night, our tactics again, is to try and reduce loss of life. To do what we can to restore order. I spoke early this morning with the Secretary of Defense, Esper, and with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Milley, extensively to update on the situation, receive their situation report as they’re seeing it across the country, and to suggest courses of action. So in consultation as a group, and as we said this morning, I’m authorizing and talking to General Jensen to fully mobilize the Minnesota National Guard, an action that has never been taken in the 164-year history of the Minnesota National Guard. By this afternoon, our hope is to exponentially have that force out there, to use all other resources in the state and our partnerships of sister cities across there and counties to help us. It will be a dangerous situation on the streets tonight. We will do everything in our power to restore that order that Minnesotans expect, that Minnesotans demand.