“I kept the windows open as long as I could because I felt like that was such a touchstone of what was happening.”
An interview reveals that Gwen Walz, wife of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, proudly kept the windows of the governor's mansion open during the violent BLM riots of 2020 that ravaged Minneapolis after the death of George Floyd so she could "smell the burning tires."
The unearthed interview comes as Democrat Gov. Walz, 60, who has accepted the VP spot with Kamala Harris' campaign, has come under fire for his handling of the 2020 riots, which resulted in more than 1500 businesses being damaged. Walz reportedly delayed deploying the National Guard and law enforcement agencies to quash the riots, and his wife detailed her husband's struggle during that infamous time of civil unrest, as reported by the New York Post.
"I could smell the burning tires, and that was a very real thing," said Mrs. Walz in a June 2020 interview with KTSP, reflecting on the 2020 BLM riots that ripped near their home in St. Paul.
"I kept the windows open as long as I could because I felt like that was such a touchstone of what was happening," she added, noting that there were a lot of "sleepless nights" for the governor.
Walz detailed that the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the stress of their home state, which became the nationwide epicenter for discussions about police violence and racism.
The Republican-controlled Minnesota Senate's Joint Transportation and Judiciary and Public Safety Committee accused Gov. Walz of neglecting to coordinate with police, delaying the deployment of the National Guard, and downplaying the riots. Additionally, he was accused of providing his daughter Hope, who was 19 years old at the time, with confidential information regarding law enforcement's strategic plans to which she attempted to disclose that information to the BLM rioters.
In a May 28, 2020 post on X, according to the NYP, Hope wrote: "Could someone who actually has followers rely to the masses that have gotten 'national guard' trending that the guard WILL NOT be present tonight??"
"The guard can not be sent in within minutes," Hope said, adding that "it takes time for them to deploy because they come from all over the state."
Gov. Walz came under nationwide scrutiny this week over his leadership in 2020 after Harris announced him as her 2024 running mate.
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