America is watching Minnesota burn under a perfect storm of lawlessness and political cowardice, and the federal government has finally begun to move to restore order. The administration’s surge of federal immigration and enforcement resources into Minneapolis — part of a wider response to alleged fraud and violence — is the kind of tough, decisive action this country needs when local leaders refuse to protect their own citizens.
The immediate cause of the crisis is ugly and undeniable: stunning video and on-the-ground clashes during federal operations have resulted in at least two deadly encounters that shocked Minnesotans and provoked righteous outrage. The January 7 shooting of Renée Good and the later killing of Alex Pretti sparked protests and questions about how federal agents are operating in our cities and whether local officials have the backbone to hold anyone accountable. Americans deserve answers and accountability — not excuses.
Minnesota’s leaders have not risen to the moment. Governor Tim Walz, who once courted national attention, was captured on tape boasting he would “beat the s— out of” Vice President JD Vance in a debate rematch — a crude admission of theater over governance that underscores how unserious many in St. Paul have been about restoring order. When your governor is trading insults and deflection instead of fixing broken oversight, taxpayers and victims pay the price.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey doubled down on the failure by bluntly declaring the city will not cooperate with federal immigration enforcement, pointing to a local “separation ordinance” and a political posture that puts ideology ahead of public safety. Refusing to enforce federal law and then pleading helplessness when federal agents respond will never be an acceptable strategy for any mayor with a conscience about crime, victims, or the rule of law. Cities that refuse to work with lawful federal partners invite chaos.
This upheaval didn’t appear out of nowhere. Minnesota has been grappling with a string of fraud scandals tied to pandemic-era programs — the Feeding Our Future case and related investigations exposed a network of bad actors who gamed taxpayer-funded programs and hurt the people these programs were meant to help. The viral video revelations and subsequent probes deserve full prosecution and a no-nonsense cleanup of the clerkroom to make sure federal dollars actually serve children and neighbors instead of lining criminal pockets.
Patriots should be clear-eyed: defending law and order and demanding fiscal accountability is not xenophobia, it is the backbone of good government. That said, conservatives must also be precise and principled — we should focus our fire on the criminals and their enablers, not cast blanket aspersions on entire communities. Hold the thieves and the corrupt to account, and hold the politicians who gave them cover to account even harder. (Minnesotans deserve no less.)
President Trump and his team are doing what governors and mayors refused to do: insist on enforcement, preserve evidence, and force transparency so the law can run its course. Courts and state officials have already had to intervene to prevent the destruction of evidence in at least one of the fatal encounters, and that kind of judicial backing matters if justice is to be done. Conservatives should rally behind the rule of law while demanding swift, thorough investigations and prosecutions.
Now is the time for conservative voters and leaders to stand firm. Don’t negotiate away accountability for optics or political cover; demand that federal, state, and local authorities pursue every corrupt operator, defend lawful enforcement where it’s needed, and replace leaders who put politics above public safety. Hardworking Americans pay the bills and deserve government that protects them — not elites who excuse fraud and chaos.
