Washington, D.C. - Following Governor Walz’s July 2nd request for a Major Disaster Declaration and federal assistance, Congressman Emmer sent a letter to President Donald Trump, Attorney General William Barr, Department of Homeland Security Acting Secretary Chad Wolf, and Federal Emergency Management Administrator Peter Gaynor calling for a federal review of the actions taken by state and local officials to prevent the destruction following the death of George Floyd.

You can read the letter here.

Regarding his letter, Emmer issued the following statement:

"Immediately following the murder of George Floyd, the U.S. Department of Justice took decisive action, initiating a federal civil rights investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death. Now that a formal request for federal assistance has been made to rebuild the Twin Cities, the federal government has an obligation to help everyone understand how almost half-a-billion dollars worth of damage was done before peace was restored. We need to learn from the loss of livelihoods and the lack of leadership, and develop a series of recommendations so Governors, Mayors, and locally elected officials around the country can prevent the destruction we witnessed in Minneapolis and St. Paul from ever happening to their residents.” 

On July 2, 2020, Governor Tim Walz submitted a request for a Major Disaster Declaration to President Trump because of “extensive fire damage to public infrastructure caused by civil unrest.”

You can read the Governor’s request, here.

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