Skip to content

White House Rejects Minnesota Governor’s Request to Help Rebuild Minneapolis After Riots

Gordon Chang: On the Hong Kong Security Law, the India China Standoff, and Banning TikTok

Just over a week in, what do we know about the National Security Law imposed on Hong Kong by Beijing? Why hasn’t President Trump yet signed the Hong Kong Autonomy Act? How is the Chinese regime becoming increasingly belligerent internationally, from its border with India to the South China Sea? And, how does the Chinese regime mine and use the data of Americans? Should the U.S. ban Chinese-owned apps like TikTok? In this episode, we sit down with political commentator and China analyst Gordon Chang, author of “The Coming Collapse of China.” This is American Thought Leaders ??, and I’m Jan Jekielek. American Thought Leaders is an Epoch Times show available on Facebook and YouTube and The Epoch Times website.  Follow Jan on Twitter: @JanJekielek Focus News: Gordon Chang: On the Hong…

White House Rejects Minnesota Governor’s Request to Help Rebuild Minneapolis After Riots

The Trump administration has denied a request from Minnesota’s governor for millions of dollars in aid to rebuild parts of Minneapolis following the George Floyd protests and riots several weeks ago.

A spokesperson for Gov. Tim Walz’s office confirmed on July 10 that the funding wasn’t approved.

“The Governor is disappointed that the federal government declined his request for financial support,” Teddy Tschann, the spokesperson, told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and other news outlets. “As we navigate one of the most difficult periods in our state’s history, we look for support from our federal government to help us through.”

Walz, a Democrat, said that up to $500 million in damage to Minneapolis was wrought during the unrest and asked Trump to declare the city a “major disaster” area following rampant incidents of arson, looting, and riots in the wake of Floyd’s death in Minneapolis police custody on May 25.

The governor said in a letter to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), that what happened in Minneapolis was the second-most-destructive civil unrest incident in U.S. history, after the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

Walz said that about 1,500 businesses across the Twin Cities area were damaged due to vandalism, arson, and looting, with the “heaviest damage” occurring in “major corridors of commerce and public accommodation,” such as on Lake Street in Minneapolis.

White House Rejects Minnesota Governor’s Request to Help Rebuild Minneapolis After Riots Police take back the streets at around midnight after firing copious amounts of tear gas to disperse protesters and rioters outside the Minneapolis Police 5th Precinct during the fourth night of protests and violence following the death of George Floyd, in Minneapolis, on May 29, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)
White House Rejects Minnesota Governor’s Request to Help Rebuild Minneapolis After Riots A police officer stands amid smoke and debris as buildings continue to burn in the aftermath of a night of protests and violence following the death of George Floyd, in Minneapolis, on May 29, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) on July 9 also sent a letter to President Donald Trump in response to Walz’s request on July 9 and asked for a “thorough and concurrent review” of the response, so “every governor, mayor, and local official can learn from our experiences.”

“If the federal government is expected to assist in the clean-up of these unfortunate weeks, it has an obligation to every American—prior to the release of funding—to fully understand the events which allowed for this level of destruction to occur and ensure it never happens again,” he said.

The Minneapolis City Council, in the wake of the unrest, passed a measure 12–0 to work toward dismantling and replacing its police department.

White House Rejects Minnesota Governor’s Request to Help Rebuild Minneapolis After Riots A Dollar Tree store is broken into and looted near the Minneapolis Police 5th Precinct during the fourth night of protests and violence following the death of George Floyd, in Minneapolis, on May 29, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)
White House Rejects Minnesota Governor’s Request to Help Rebuild Minneapolis After Riots The vandalized Lake Street/Midtown metro station after a night of protests and violence following the death of George Floyd, in Minneapolis, on May 29, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

“The City Council voted today to advance a proposed ballot measure that would ask Minneapolis voters to amend the City Charter to create a new Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention and remove the Police Department as a charter department,” the City of Minneapolis wrote in a statement on June 26.

But black community members issued a plea to City Council members last week, saying that there is an ongoing crime wave occurring across Minneapolis in the wake of calls to abolish or defund police departments.

“When the City Council start talking about [abolishing] and dismantling law enforcement, it’s destroying, it’s destroying our community right now,” said Al Flowers, a community activist, according to FOX9.

Alicia Smith, executive director of the Corcoran Neighborhood, said, “With these calls to abolish the police and no real substantive plan to follow, those words have led some folks in our communities to believe that they have a sort of open season on their enemies.”

The Democratic mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey, has said he doesn’t want the police department to be dismantled.

Focus News: White House Rejects Minnesota Governor’s Request to Help Rebuild Minneapolis After Riots

US Warns Americans in China of ‘Heightened Risk’ of Arbitrary Detention, Exit Bans

The U.S. state department has warned Americans to exercise “increased caution” in China due to an elevated risk of arbitrary law enforcement, including detention and bans on exiting the country. The security alert, issued on July 11 by the U.S. Embassy in China, said U.S. citizens “may be detained without access to U.S. consular services or information about their alleged crime.” It added that Americans may be subject to “prolonged interrogations and extended detention for reasons related to ‘state security.’” “Security personnel may detain and/or deport U.S. citizens for sending private electronic messages critical of the PRC [People’s Republic of China] government,” the alert said. It did not provide specific examples. The department did not say what prompted the notice. The move comes amid deteriorating relations between Washington and Beijing…