PRM files lawsuit to force release of documents on Walz, civil unrest planning
By Mike Kaszuba
The State of Minnesota has for two years failed to produce documents that would detail how state officials – in their own words – defended their roles in the response to the 2020 civil unrest following the murder of George Floyd, according to a new lawsuit.
The lawsuit was filed by Public Record Media (PRM), a non-profit based in Saint Paul, and relates to a public data request PRM submitted to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety (DPS) in August of 2022. The request focused on underlying data used to produce a report that analyzed the state’s civil unrest response. The request sought data related to interviews with top state officials, including Governor Tim Walz – now the Democratic Party nominee for Vice President.
Walz dispatched the Minnesota National Guard as the civil unrest in 2020 spread across Minneapolis and Saint Paul. His role during that time has received renewed scrutiny after the Minnesota governor was selected earlier this month as the running mate for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
Walz, along with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, have faced criticism for not responding quickly enough as rioters looted businesses and burned a police precinct headquarters in south Minneapolis.
According to the lawsuit, “there has been and is ongoing public interest” in data related to the state’s role (including the governor’s role) in responding to the civil unrest.
The lawsuit added that the data about state government decision-making “should be accessible to the American public prior to the Presidential election in November 2024.”
DPS says it does not have some of the data
But state officials have since told PRM that they do not have some of the key data sought.
According to the lawsuit, the DPS has stated that it “does not have” some of the government data sought by Plaintiff, despite that “Defendants are either in actual physical possession of the data sought by Plaintiff, or through Defendants’ contractual ownership, are in constructive possession of the same.”
State officials contracted with the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation (Wilder), a private nonprofit community organization in Saint Paul, to produce the report. The report states that multiple interviews were conducted by Wilder — including with officials from the Governor’s Office, DPS, the State Patrol, the Minneapolis Mayor’s Office, and the Minneapolis Police Department.
The March 2022 report, entitled “An External Review of the State’s Response to the Civil Unrest in Minnesota from May 27-June 7, 2020”, was released online to the public. But the underlying documents — including interviews with state officials and others — were not released.
The report said that a lack of coordination by a myriad of law enforcement agencies contributed to confusion as the rioting worsened.
According to the lawsuit, in its contract with Wilder, the DPS asked the non-profit organization to — among other things — “become [knowledgeable] about the civil unrest and rioting that occurred from May 26th to June 7th” and “conduct key informant interviews.” The lawsuit further states that under the contract, all of Wilder’s project documentation is explicitly owned by the DPS, and was required to be provided to the DPS upon completion of the project.
The 2020 Civil Unrest
Floyd, a black man, died while being arrested by Minneapolis police in late May 2020. His death set off days of protests, rioting and vandalism in the Twin Cities – and across the country – and galvanized protestors over police brutality and social justice issues. Derek Chauvin, who is white, was the key officer in Floyd’s arrest and death. Chauvin was later convicted of murder for holding his knee on Floyd’s neck as Floyd pleaded that he could not breathe. Chauvin is serving a jail sentence in federal prison.
The riots following Floyd’s death drew the ire of then-President Donald Trump, who blamed local officials in Minnesota for not responding forcefully enough to the protests. Since Walz was selected by Harris as her running mate, the Trump campaign has been critical of Walz. (Trump is the Republican presidential nominee in 2024).
“Governor Walz allowed Minneapolis to burn for days, despite President Trump’s offer to deploy soldiers and cries for help from the liberal Mayor of Minneapolis,” a Trump campaign spokesperson said following Walz being selected as the Democratic vice-presidential candidate.
But media reports have also shown that Trump had initially praised Walz for his actions as the riots unfolded.
"I know Gov. Walz is on the phone, and we spoke, and I fully agree with the way he handled it the last couple of days," Trump told a group of governors on June 1, 2020, according to a recording of the call, in which he also called Walz an "excellent guy."
No response from DPS for almost two years
Despite repeated letters to the DPS regarding its 2022 data request, PRM did not receive any response for almost two years, according to the lawsuit.
In August of this year — after PRM followed-up once again — DPS official Kim Parker stated that the “DPS does not have Wilder Research’s list of interviewees or access to any transcripts or recordings that Wilder Research may have taken while conducting its interviews.”
In the email, Parker said that she had found at least one responsive document but was checking to see if it should be withheld as “security data.” PRM then asked the DPS to search again for data it should have per to its contract with Wilder, but the DPS did not respond.
According to the lawsuit, PRM made multiple, previous attempts to obtain the data.
In September 2022 – one month after the initial request -- PRM sent a follow-up letter to the DPS to provide more detail regarding what it was asking for. “PRM received no reply from DPS. PRM subsequently sent three additional letters to DPS [and] likewise received no reply,” the lawsuit stated.
As part of its data request, PRM asked for specific details regarding the civil unrest – including, for example, correspondence between the Minneapolis police chief and the DPS commissioner as the riots unfolded. PRM also asked for details related to a phone call during the unrest between Minnesota officials and U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper and General Mark Milley, the then-chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff.
In its data request, PRM said it had “referenced certain identifying information – including pages numbers and dates [mentioned in the report] – in order to assist your agency in locating responsive data.”
As part of its lawsuit, PRM is asking a judge to force the state to disclose the data, award damages, grant injunctive relief and issue a declaratory judgment for the plaintiff.
(A copy of PRM’s complaint can be accessed by contacting Public Record Media at admin@publicrecordmedia.org , or at 651-556-1381)