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In our interview, Mayor Jacob Frey said he had been warned that a lack of policing reform could lead to a city crisis. “Every single day, I feel the weight of responsibility on my chest.”As nationwide protests about the death of George Floyd enter a second week, we speak with the leader of the city where they began — Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis.
In a conversation with Michael Barbaro, Mr. Frey reflects on personal culpability, the potential for change in his city and his feelings about President Trump’s vision for “militaristic rule” in Minneapolis.
Responding to Mr. Trump’s decision to put military police on notice for deployment, Mr. Frey said, “I mean, the implications are more scary than I can even possibly imagine.”
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At a crossroads for either comprehensive reform or aggravated division, Mr. Frey also took us behind the scenes at the epicenter of the current national crisis.
“I wouldn’t wish on anyone to be in the rooms that I’ve been in over the last week — to make the decisions that I’ve had to make,” he said. Here’s a bit more about the mayor to get you up to speed.
Who is Mayor Jacob Frey?
Mr. Frey is a Northern Virginia native and former professional runner who fell in love with Minneapolis after running a marathon in the city. He moved there in 2009 and won a City Council seat in 2013.
Two years ago, he staked much of his campaign for mayor on his ability to reform the Police Department. His predecessor, Mayor Betsy Hodges, faced fierce criticism after two fatal police shootings: the 2015 killing of Jamar Clark, a black man who was accused of assaulting his girlfriend, and the 2017 killing of Justine Ruszczyk, a white woman who had called 911 to report hearing a scream.
After Mr. Clark was killed, protesters occupied the area around a police station for 18 days.
A jury convicted Mohamed Noor, the Somali-American police officer who shot Ms. Ruszczyk, of murder and the city paid a $20 million settlement in the wake of Ms. Ruszczyk’s death. At the time, Mr. Frey said, “This is not a victory for anyone, but rather a way for our city to move forward.”
Now, he worries that he has not done enough in the time since.
How has he responded to the death of George Floyd?
“When I first heard about the murder of George Floyd, I didn’t know all of the facts,” Mr. Frey said about the moment he got a call last week from his chief of police, Medaria Arradondo, notifying him that a black man had been hospitalized while in police custody.
Though he didn’t know it at the time, that man was George Floyd — and he was already dead.
Soon after, Mr. Frey was able to see the video of Mr. Floyd’s death. “To see our white police officer press his knee into the neck of a black man who was unarmed and handcuffed for a period of eight minutes straight — there is nothing more disgusting that I have ever seen in my life,” he said.
He quickly spoke out publicly about the episode and called for the officer to be charged. Still, the charges did nothing to abate the wave of mostly peaceful protests around the world calling for an end to police brutality.
Speaking of the shift in some instances from nonviolent demonstrations to looting and rioting, Mr. Frey said: “Every single day, I feel the weight of responsibility on my chest. I am the mayor. And at the end of the day, yes, I am a responsible party.”
Now at the center of a global conversation, Mr. Frey is focused on alchemizing this moment into positive change.
“If there’s a moral ending to what’s happened, it can only end in one way — which is first justice for George Floyd, in the form of a full charge and then conviction. But moreover, it needs to end in true change,” he said, speaking of policing reform.
“This is not just about the eight minutes of time where our officer had his knee on George Floyd’s neck. This is about the previous 400 years. This is about a hundred years’ worth of intentional segregation and institutionalized racism.”
Background reading:
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After a night of mostly peaceful protests, President Trump’s militarization of Washington D.C. is employing tactics seen in wars abroad. Referencing the escalation of military policing, Mr. Frey said, “We cannot go down that path” in Minneapolis.
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The Times has reporters on the ground across the country covering the protests. Here’s what they are seeing.
Tune in, and tell us what you think. Email us at thedaily@nytimes.com. Follow Michael Barbaro on Twitter: @mikiebarb. And if you’re interested in advertising with “The Daily,” write to us at thedaily-ads@nytimes.com.
“The Daily” is made by Theo Balcomb, Andy Mills, Lisa Tobin, Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Annie Brown, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Larissa Anderson, Wendy Dorr, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Leigh Young, Jonathan Wolfe, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, Luke Vander Ploeg, Adizah Eghan, Kelly Prime, Julia Longoria, Sindhu Gnanasambandan, M.J. Davis Lin, Austin Mitchell, Sayre Quevedo, Neena Pathak, Dan Powell, Dave Shaw, Sydney Harper, Daniel Guillemette, Hans Buetow, Robert Jimison, Mike Benoist, Bianca Giaever and Asthaa Chaturvedi. Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly. Special thanks to Sam Dolnick, Mikayla Bouchard, Lauren Jackson, Julia Simon, Mahima Chablani, Nora Keller and Farah Stockton for her reporting.
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June 03, 2020 at 07:30PM
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An Interview With the Mayor of Minneapolis - The New York Times
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