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Join Telegram ChannelMINNEAPOLIS – A retired Minnesota police lieutenant is pushing back against the narrative that Gov. Tim Walz is a “moderate,” telling Fox News Digital that the governor “intentionally” let Minneapolis burn during the 2020 riots because he “really doesn’t like the police.”
“He’s not moderate, he’s never been moderate and here in Minnesota he’s anti-police, he’s raised taxes, he’s far from moderate,” retired Minnesota State Patrol Lt. John Nagel told Fox News Digital.
“He's anti-police, he needs to defund the police, when you have families of police officers, and a police officer is killed in the line of duty, when that family looks at the governor and says they don't want you at the funeral. That should tell you a lot about what law enforcement in general thinks of Walz.”
Last year, the widow of Pope County Sheriff's Deputy Josh Owen, who was killed in the line of duty while responding to a domestic violence call, told Walz that he was not invited to her late husband's funeral because he “does not support law enforcement.” Alpha News reported.
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Retired Minnesota State Police Lt. John Nagel blasted Gov. Tim Walz's relationship with police.
Nagel told Fox News Digital that a major reason Minnesota law enforcement is unhappy with Walz was his slow response when asked to send in the National Guard as the city burned during the 2020 George Floyd riots, which Walz faced. fierce criticism since he became the Democratic vice presidential nominee.
Nagel, who is running for Republican nomination in Minnesota House District 46A, said he believes the slow response is partly due to political calculation.
“We hear this over and over again, he let Minneapolis burn,” Nagel said. “I think he intentionally let Minneapolis burn.”
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A building catches fire during the George Floyd riots in 2020. (Getty Images)
“I think it was all part of a much bigger plan because he really doesn't like the police. [Minnesota Attorney General] Keith Ellison never liked the police. They've been in contact with people who are defunding them.
Waltz, who publicly supported The “alternatives to policing” movement, as the Minnesota City Council pushed to disband the police department in 2020, was widely criticized by Republicans for not doing more to support law enforcement during the riots.
“Tim Walz let Minneapolis burn for three straight nights without doing anything“ Republican Rep. Pete Stauber, who represents Duluth, Minnesota and surrounding areas, previously told Fox News Digital. “And he called for riots, he declared their actions “These were, in my opinion, 'justified anger.' Hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to family businesses and buildings in Minneapolis.”
Stauber told Fox News Digital that the “vast majority” of Minnesota law enforcement were “unhappy” with Walz’s “lack of support.”
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Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz appear together on stage at a campaign event at Temple University in Philadelphia. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Nagel, who served in uniform for 30 years, told Fox News Digital that Democratic policies are “harming Minnesota,” causing people to leave “in droves” and argued that Walz played a key role in the “dismantling of public safety in Minnesota.”
Fox News Digital asked Nagel what he thinks voters who don't know Walz need to know about him from the perspective of a seasoned law enforcement officer.
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“I think they have to understand that he's not honest, I think they have to understand that he's power-hungry, they have to understand that he's not doing this for the good of the people,” Nagel said.
“He's doing it for his own good, and he's going to pander to the Democrats, and I think that would be… look at Minnesota, he's ruined Minnesota with that trio of Democrats. Can you imagine what he's going to be able to do with your federal tax dollars? And when North Korea decides to come knocking on his door, will he and his president be able to handle a national crisis when he couldn't handle a crisis in Minneapolis?”
Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris-Walz campaign for comment and did not receive a response.