In Our View: Police reform | Lead, follow or get out of the way,the editorial board of the Mankato Free Press noted on Thursday that some of the word choice surrounding the "defund the police" movement confuses the issue, but it reserves its scorn for Senate Majority Leader Gazelka. R-Nisswa:
. . .Last week a group of legislators put forth a set of proposals for police reform, and called for the Legislature to act on them in the upcoming special session. Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka intends to stall, and his Republican party apparently views police reform as a wedge issue in the coming election. Again, the language of “abolition” gets in the way of what should be an obvious consensus.
Minneapolis does not know what its reimagined approach to public safety will look like. It knows it can’t go on with the status quo. Gov. Tim Walz and the city see this as a matter of urgency, and we agree.
Gazelka and other legislators who don’t see the urgency and don’t care to engage on the issue should at least get out of the way. If legislative inaction blocks the city’s efforts, the next blowup — and there will assuredly be one — will be on them.
Apparently, Gazelka has fixed upon his flavor-of-the-week distraction, on this the day before the special session. The Minnesota Reformer's Ricardo Lopez tweeted about the Senate Majority Leader's choice of distraction:
So we’re gonna be talking about a statue for the foreseeable future #mnleg pic.twitter.com/23bT8a9t7L
— Ricardo Lopez (@rljourno) June 11, 2020
Veteran KARE 11 reporter John Croman added a bit of fact check to Gazelka's rant:
Republican Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka sharply criticizes Gov. Walz for allowing Columbus statue to be toppled -- "The mob mentality to do whatever people want without repercussion has got to stop." BTW.. Mike Forcia of Am Indian Movement was told he'd be charged. pic.twitter.com/0OElEgbNV8
— John Croman (@JohnCroman) June 11, 2020
Both Croman and former state representative Erin Maye Quade added some history to the statue's story:
I couldn't help noticing that @KSTP was there for both the statue dedication in 1931 and the toppling in 2020. And, apparently, so was the Minneapolis Star-Journal. pic.twitter.com/ucnyQtXdPm
— John Croman (@JohnCroman) June 11, 2020
Let’s learn some MN history. The Columbus Statue on the MN Capitol Grounds was installed in 1931. Also in 1931? The height of Klan activity in MN. Also the year MN State Auditor King, who was a card-carrying KKK member, was elected. Here’s his membership card, preserved by @mnhs pic.twitter.com/uCa4GxO4Pj
— Erin Maye Quade (@ErinMayeQuade) June 11, 2020
Click through and read the thread on Quade's post, as others chime in with additional bits of that history. We have to wonder if Gazelka would in fact really like to go there if he's looking for a distraction.
Are there no witches to hunt in Duluth or what?
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Photo: Minnesota Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka.
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