El Presidente Trump denied a request from the governor of Minnesota for federal funds to help pay for the nearly half a billion in damage from the BLM riots and looting.
Great news! @realDonaldTrump has DENIED Minnesota's disaster request to repair half a billion dollars in damage from the riots. Governors and Mayors who ordered police to stand down and watch their cities burn shouldn't get a penny in taxpayer aid! https://t.co/8WAgm7AFa7
— Rep. Jeff Duncan (@RepJeffDuncan) July 11, 2020
Here’s more about the denial of funding:
The federal government has denied Gov. Tim Walz’s request for aid to help rebuild and repair Twin Cities structures that were damaged in the unrest following George Floyd’s death.
Walz asked President Donald Trump to declare a “major disaster” for the state of Minnesota in his request to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on July 2. More than 1,500 buildings were damaged by fires, looting and vandalism in the days of unrest that followed Floyd’s May 25 death in Minneapolis police custody, racking up more than $500 million in damages, according to Walz.
The governor’s spokesman, Teddy Tschann, confirmed late Friday that the request for federal aid was denied.
“The Governor is disappointed that the federal government declined his request for financial support,” Tschann said in a statement. “As we navigate one of the most difficult periods in our state’s history, we look for support from our federal government to help us through.”
Many small businesses and grocery stores, pharmacies and post offices were damaged during the unrest. In his letter to FEMA, Walz said what happened in the Twin Cities after Floyd’s death was the second most destructive incident of civil unrest in U.S. history, after the 1992 riots in Los Angeles.
The Walz administration conducted a preliminary damage assessment that found nearly $16 million of eligible damages related to fires. The federal funds would have been used to reimburse local governments for repairs and debris removal.
I’m not sure what I think about this one. I think the feds should definitely not use funding to punish political opponents, and if that’s what is happening here, I’m against it. If there’s a different, better reason for denying the funds, then that’s fine. We are definitely in extraordinary times because of the pandemic and the BLM protests, and this is exactly what the federal government was meant to address to ease the pain of all Americans, no matter what party they’re in.