State Sen. Michael Holmstrom, R-Minn., said on Newsmax's "Saturday Report" that he was "beyond tired" of Gov. Tim Walz's "irresponsible rhetoric," arguing it was "created specifically to gin up a mob and to put officers and the public in danger" after Walz overtly blamed federal agents for a shooting in Minneapolis on Saturday prior to an investigation being completed.
Holmstrom said he was seeing Gov. Tim Walz's X statement for the first time when a Newsmax host asked for his reaction.
"This is the first time I've seen that. I'm going to be honest with you," Holmstrom said.
"I am beyond tired of Tim Walz and his irresponsible rhetoric that has [been] created specifically to gin up a mob and to put officers and the public in danger."
“I just spoke with the White House after another horrific shooting by federal agents this morning,” Walz wrote in a post on X. “Minnesota has had it. This is sickening. The President must end this operation. Pull the thousands of violent, untrained officers out of Minnesota. Now.”
Holmstrom responded with heightened criticism of Walz's language, saying, "He's not doing this because he believes in that. He's doing it because he's a loser who has consistently proven his inability to lead this state. And now he's trying to put even more people in danger to distract from his own failures. And I'm tired of it. I apologize for my anger, but that is ridiculous."
Asked on-air how he believed Walz's comments could inflame tensions, Holmstrom said, "We see another tragic shooting where people's lives are put in danger. Officers are put in a dangerous situation. This person likely lost their life."
He added that, in his view, calling federal officers "violent and untrained" created a cue for escalation, saying, "This is what the mob lives for. They're looking for the permission structure to be angry, to be violent, and to take down and burn down the city."
"And this is the exact rhetoric that they need to create that permission structure," he said.
"I'm tired of it. Again, I don't see it as any way responsible. The first thing I said when I got on this program was, we need peace, we need calm, and we need time to conduct the investigation, and Tim Walz immediately comes out and denounces ICE and says that they're all bad, they're all violent, they're all untrained, and that obviously they're at fault here. That's insane."
A live update from The Minnesota Star Tribune reported that a man was shot and killed by federal agents in South Minneapolis this morning, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said.
The latest shooting adds to tensions between Minnesota leaders and federal immigration officials that have built since Jan. 7, when Renee Nicole Good, 37, was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis.
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Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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