This is a list of Minnesota politicians who currently hold office or are running for office, and who have publicly opposed reforming the Minneapolis Police Department. It also collects instances where those politicians have lied about attempts to reform the police, as further demonstration of their opposition to reform.
Much of this table is based around the 2021 Minneapolis ballot Question 2. If passed, this would have changed the city charter to remove a required minimum number officers, a minimum funding level, and place MPD as part of a larger Department of Public Safety. Very few cities in the US have those required minimums, and many cities and states have a DPS. The question did not change police funding or staffing levels and did not eliminate the chief of police position. This was a necessary and teeny, tiny first step towards real reform. If you opposed this change, then you would certainly oppose any of the real reforms that are needed to improve MPD’s behavior. Opposing Question 2 is equivalent to being opposed to police reform. Politicians’ stances on Q2 give us a clear window into whether they actually support reform, or just like saying the word.
Name | Held office or candidacy | Opposed Reforms | Lies |
---|---|---|---|
Tim Walz | Governor and 2022 candidate | Opposed Q2 | Lied – “it’s fraught with peril to just use a slogan like ‘defund the police.'” Lied – “It’s been distilled down to this: defund police or fund police” |
Amy Klobuchar | US Senator | Opposed Q2 | Lied – “has also repeatedly stated her opposition to defunding the police” |
Tina Smith | US Senator | Opposed Q2 | |
Angie Craig | US House Rep | Opposed Q2 | Lied – “[Q2] could lead to the dismissal of Chief Medaria Arradondo” |
Jacob Frey | MPLS Mayor | Opposed Q2 Fighting MN DHR consent decree | Lied – The mayor campaigned that he banned no-knock warrants, but he didn’t. As a result, Amir Locke was murdered by MPD during a no-knock raid in February, 2022. The mayor’s PAC, AllOfMpls, spread an unbelievable amount of lies about Q2 during the election. |
Linea Palmisano | MPLS City Council | Opposed Q2 | Lied – “[Palmisano] claims to have ‘supported the creation of the Office of Violence Prevention,’ but voted against the budget amendment that funded its creation.” |
Lisa Goodman | MPLS City Council | Opposed Q2 | |
Michael Rainville | MPLS City Council | Opposed Q2 | |
LaTrisha Vetaw | MPLS City Council | Opposed Q2 | |
Emily Koski | MPLS City Council | Opposed Q2 | |
Yusra Arab | 2022 candidate for MN House 63A | Opposed Q2 | |
Republicans | Many | All | Literally everything |
Last updated: 12 June 2022
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