Dear John,

It has been a whirlwind of a week in Minnesota and I wanted to connect with you, my supporters and friends, to discuss these serious and historic times. In the wake of Tuesday’s verdict in Minneapolis, I hope our state and nation can find the strength to come together in unity and move forward together.

Sadly, some state and national leaders have chosen to exploit this moment by ratcheting up the temperature with heated rhetoric that could incite violence. It was appalling to see my congressional colleague, Maxine Waters, in Brooklyn Center preaching to protesters to “get more confrontational” with our law enforcement, State Patrol, and National Guard. In response, I helped champion a resolution in Congress to condemn the violent rhetoric, but unfortunately, Washington Democrats chose to stand by Waters’ words.

Due to potential civil unrest, Minneapolis and St. Paul have received a generous outpouring of security provided by nearby police officers, Minnesota National Guard troops, as well as state troopers from Ohio and Nebraska. Ironically, our heroes run to protect the very city that is calling to defund its police.

Sadly, in the past week:

A few radical union leaders kicked our Guard members – on a mission to protect our cities – out of their St. Paul Labor Center last week. I was grateful to hear that the 49ers, Pipe Trades, Carpenters, and other unions condemned that unacceptable behavior.

Thousands of Minneapolis protesters repeated derogatory chants about our women and men in the National Guard.

The Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board voted to expel our State Patrol members who, deployed to Minneapolis to provide that city safety and security, were resting in public parks during their long, grueling shifts.

Protesters and some local leaders are disparaging the very blanket of safety our troops & law enforcement are providing them. As a 23-year police officer whose wife served in the Guard and deployed overseas, this is outrageous.

This is not the state I grew up in and it’s definitely not the state we want to be.

My friend, you have my word: I stand 100 percent with our troops and our law enforcement who answer our calls to protect and serve. We owe them a debt of gratitude, and we owe them our prayers.

Please take a moment this week to thank God for all who serve and keep us safe.

Sincerely,

Pete Stauber

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