Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey is "ill-suited for the role," and violence in the city is up 45% since Gov. Tim Walz took office, Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Kendall Qualls said on Newsmax.
Frey, slamming talks of "thoughts and prayers" after the shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in South Minneapolis, is "typical for our mayor," Qualls told "National Report."
"He's ill-suited for the role. It's all the time for prayer right now. We start there first, and we always have as a country. We always will.
"But when you think about what's happened here is horrific. Shooting and killing here at Annunciation Church. … Sadly, this has become rather routine here in our country and specifically in our state.
"The tragedy of this event is isolated with this school shooter here, but we've seen violence in this city continually; less than 24 hours from this shooting was another shooting of seven people. One died, one [is in] critical condition, and they think it's gang-related."
"But what we've seen is that violent crime in our city in Minneapolis is up 45% since Gov. Walz has been in office. It's one of the reasons I'm running," Qualls added. "I've never held public office. I never wanted to, but I felt obligated because of my prior oath that I gave to our country and with needing just strong leadership in our state."
At least two children were killed, and 17 others were injured in the shooting. The gunman took his own life.
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Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.