‘Outside agitator’ narrative by Walz, community leaders was wrong but helped quell 2020 George Floyd protests

It was an exaggeration made in the fog of war that turned into a tactic that contributed to the calming of two cities following the murder of George Floyd in May of 2020: 

Much of the destruction that occurred during the evenings of rioting, looting and arson were the work of outsiders, the state’s political leadership said. These troublemakers were coming in to exploit the pain caused by Floyd’s death, Gov. Tim Walz and the other leaders asserted. 

While subsequent arrests and prosecutions did not bear out that narrative — at least not as the predominant cause of destruction — it was prominent in public officials’ and community leaders’ statements.

During early morning media briefings held in the state emergency management center in downtown St. Paul, Walz, his public safety leadership and the mayors of the two largest cities tried to keep residents informed in late May, 2020. Demonstrations that became civil unrest that became rioting had marred both Minneapolis and St. Paul on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights with damage estimates in the $500 million range.

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State and city leadership was attempting to respond to the numbers and the violence that caught most by surprise. Since Walz was elevated to the national Democratic presidential ticket, much has been said and written about the timing of the deployment of state forces — the State Patrol and the National Guard — primarily whether it was deployed too late to stop the burning of hundreds of businesses and institutions. But one set of remarks, seemingly made off the cuff and without evidence, might have been key to ending the destruction less than a week after Floyd was killed.

“We’re going to start releasing who some of these people are, and they’ll be able to start tracing that history of where they’re at, and what they’re doing on the ‘dark web’ and how they’re organizing,” Walz said during one briefing. “I think our best estimate right now that I heard is about 20% that are Minnesotans and about 80% are outside.”

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter echoed that assessment with more numbers that would prove inaccurate.

“Every single person we arrested last night, I’m told, was from out of state. Those folks who are agitating and inciting are taking advantage of the pain, of the hurt, of the frustration, of the anger of the very real and legitimate sadness that so many of our community members feel to advocate for the destruction of our communities,” Carter said.

By the next day, the elected officials walked back the numbers but not their contention that outside agitators were playing a role in the violence.

“This morning I shared with you arrest data received in my morning police briefing which I later learned to be inaccurate. I have taken further steps to safeguard our ability to provide relevant and accurate information and will ensure that those are (provided) in the future,” Carter said. “And I take full responsibility for that.”

But while the data was sketchy, the theory remained.

“So as you saw this expand across the United States, and you start to see whether it be domestic terrorism, whether it be ideological extremist to fund the group, or whether it be international destabilization of how our country works, those elements are present in all of this,” Walz said early Saturday morning while announcing a full mobilization of the National Guard.

“Our great cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul are under assault by people who do not share our values, who do not value life in the work that went into this, and certainly are not here to honor George Floyd,” Walz continued. “They need to see today that that line will stop and the order needs to be restored.”

Added Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey: “I want to be very, very clear: The people that are doing this are not Minneapolis residents. They are coming in largely from outside of the city, from outside of the region to prey on everything that we have built over the last several decades.

“The dynamic has changed over the last several days. If you looked at Tuesday, it was largely peaceful protest. The vast majority peaceful, the vast majority of people from our city with a small group of people looking to have intentional disturbance. Gradually, that shift was made and we saw more and more people coming from outside of the city. We saw more and more people looking to cause violence in our communities, and I have to say it is not acceptable. If you’re concerned, I get it. If you have family members or friends that are even considering protesting, this is no longer about protesting.”

There is little question that the political leadership believed that the cities were targets, based on intelligence they received. Late in the week the mayor of Hudson, Wisconsin, asked for help from that state’s National Guard due to official reports that “70,000 to 75,000 agitators are traveling today from locations such as Kansas City, Chicago, Ohio and other parts of the country to the Twin Cities.” That was an estimate that was also given credence by the Pentagon in discussing possible responses.

By the weekend, a tweet from Frey pointed to “white supremacists, members of organized crime, out of state instigators, and possibly even foreign actors.”

Politifact determined that the outside agitator claims were mostly false. While there were incidents of radical conservatives being charged, most were from the state and not affiliated with outside groups. 

Walz did react to criticism that Minnesotans were not taking responsibility for what was happening in the streets, and therefore not taking responsibility for the racial conditions that contributed to the anger.

“I just think candidly, I certainly want to believe that it’s outside more, and that might go to the problem that we have of saying ‘it can’t be Minnesotans, it can’t be Minnesotans who did this,’” Walz said Sunday. And while he continued to think there were outside elements involved, “the catalyst that started all of this was the murder of George Floyd in Minnesota, and that was our problem.”

Leadership took other steps to try to respond to protest demands, most notably the arrest of Derek Chauvin. In addition, curfews were imposed and freeway access to the cities was closed in the evening.

After a chaotic start to the state’s response, by week’s end the State Patrol, the law enforcement division of the Department of Natural Resources and the National Guard had developed a mission and were deploying in larger numbers. Because they do not have arrest authority, the Guard would serve as support to the patrol and local law enforcement. It kept watch on institutions like the State Capitol, police headquarters and public works. It provided escorts for fire and emergency medical response crews. Then-Adjutant General Jon Jensen had insisted that his men and women be armed in response to what he said were known threats against them.

Because so much of the protests were aimed at the Minneapolis Police Department, political leadership tried to stress that the patrol and guard were different, not deserving of anger and protests.

“The National Guard just a week ago was administering COVID-19 tests to help people,” Attorney General Keith Ellison said. “The presence you see on the street: don’t react to them the way you might react to the Minneapolis Police Department. It’s not the same group. They have different leadership, different authority. Their job is to try to bring peace and calm back again.”

Still, the official response was not yet enough. Friday, the day after the Third Precinct was abandoned and destroyed by fire, nighttime unrest continued. The curfews did not deter people from being out on the streets in Minneapolis.

Later Saturday afternoon, Ellison led another press conference, this time with religious and community leaders, pleading with people to obey the curfew that was to begin again that evening. For more than an hour, people who were mostly non-politicians urged people in Minneapolis to protest during daylight hours but to then go home.

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After making that request, Ellison explained why.

“Because the people who are trying to tarnish the reputation of the nobel protest for justice are out there trying to mix in with the crowd so that people will say, look at those protesters, their cause can’t be just, they’re causing trouble,” he said. 

People he called “evil elements” are not for justice for George Floyd, “they are against it.”

“To be on the street after 8 means that we can’t get you separated from the bad people,” Ellison said. “We’re urging you to let the national guard have the street after 8.”

Imam Asad Zaman, executive director of the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, spoke of infiltrators trying to “hijack this righteous protest” and who use local residents as “human shields to hide themselves from law enforcement.”

Finally, Justin Terrell, then the executive director of the Council for Minnesotans of African Heritage, asked people to stay home and take care of each other. “I’m asking you, take the day, check on your people, prepare, pack a bag, protect your home. But do not end up in the crosshairs of an ideological battle that’s got nothing to do with us and never has. We are not your pawns,” he said.

“White people from other communities are coming into my community, our community, for some sort of perverse poetry,” Terrell said.

And later Saturday, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar said she believed the grief of the community was being exploited.

“People primarily from outside our city are destroying black and minority-owned businesses in our city,” she said in a statement. “We can’t let them. Let us all prioritize justice for George Floyd, police reform, alongside the safety of our community and the prevention of more violence. I urge people to stay home tonight so we can better target and isolate these agitators.”

Whether the pleas were heard or whether people stayed home or returned home by 8 on their own, the numbers were down significantly Saturday evening. State Patrol teams cleared out those who remained, and the evening ended with much less disruption. That’s not to say there wasn’t some damage and some arrests. But a major effort by law enforcement via a coordinated effort by state and local police buoyed by higher numbers of officers and guardsmen ended the unrest. 

The after-action report conducted by Wilder Research quoted what it called a state law enforcement official: “There was a mass deployment of munitions on Nicollet Avenue with a large crowd, and that was a tactic communicated to us through chain of command via the executive saying go down there and give them everything you got. It needed to end tonight.”

Reporters on the scene noted the difference between Saturday night and the previous three evenings.

Shortly after midnight, state Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell, who was serving as a media liaison during the unrest, said the situation was greatly improved Saturday.

“One, there was clarity … and there was an overwhelming number of resources that were brought to bear, which was critical,” he said, noting that the number of Guardsmen jumped from around 700 to more than 4,000. There also was “incredible compliance” with the 8 p.m. curfew.

“There was a tremendous level of community support for the curfew, as hard as that is to do in an open and civil society,” Schnell said.

The Sunday briefing was the first one in a week in which Walz and his public safety leaders appeared relieved, rather than harried.

“I say on the backside of last night that our goal was accomplished,” said State Patrol Chief Matt Langer. “Fires were not set. We didn’t see the lawlessness. We didn’t see the risk to personal safety, the crime, the looting, the property destruction.”

Sunday afternoon, Walz turned over the prosecution of Chauvin and the other police officers to Ellison, another request of protesters. And by Sunday afternoon, the protests were focused on a march on I-35 that included a tanker truck driving toward protesters and then ended with amicable arrests at the Bobby and Steve’s Auto World on S. Washington.

“By Monday, June 1, the crowds and violent behavior subsided, while largely peaceful protests persisted with minimal arrests,” Wilder concluded.

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