Minnesota Reformer
Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo coordinated closely with a group called Operation Safety Now, which was created by a PR consultant, to sway public opinion and the City Council against budget cuts to the Minneapolis police department. The office of Mayor Jacob Frey, seen here in the background, also worked with Operation Safety Now. Photo by Max Nesterak/Minnesota Reformer.
Bill Rodriguez was the first speaker at the first public hearing on cutting funding to the Minneapolis Police Department. “We need both: the police and reform,” Rodriguez said at a City Council meeting in November.
Variations on that phrase “we need both” were repeated throughout the hearing. It is the signature talking point of Operation Safety Now, the pro-police group Rodriguez founded.
Tensions High In Twin Cities Amid Wright Protests, Upcoming Chauvin Trial Verdict
CBS Minnesota 50 mins ago Syndicated Local – WCCO | CBS Minnesota
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) Tensions are high around the Twin Cities Sunday night, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is calling for calm as jurors in the Derek Chauvin trial are expected to be handed the case Monday.
“Minnesotans I think know we can’t go through what we went through in May and June, and those folks who are out there asking for change need to be heard,” Walz said.
Minnesota National Guard members are stationed everywhere throughout the city Sunday. Two guardsmen were injured in a shooting early Sunday morning in north Minneapolis near Penn and Broadway avenues. One guardsman was taken to a local hospital after getting hurt by shattered glass. The other had minor injuries. Officials say several gunshots were fired from a light-colored SUV. One went through the windshield of a Humvee.