How bad are the riots in Minneapolis?

So bad that the ineffectual Mayor of the city, Jacob Frey, decided to completely abandon a police precinct, letting rioters burn it down and chase the police away.

The mayor admitted to making the call to evacuate the police out of the 3rd Precinct after the rioters attacked the precinct and then set fire to the building.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey held a late-night press briefing in response to violent protests that included a police precinct going up in flames https://t.co/TCY9IcPbkg pic.twitter.com/IUHcVFChm9

— CBS News (@CBSNews) May 29, 2020

From Fox 9:

Frey said he made the decision to sacrifice the building and call off officers as rioters moved in. He told reporters early Friday morning that the decision came down to safety for both officers but members of the public.

“Brick and mortar is not as important as life,” Frey said.

Rioters got into the building and took all kinds of police equipment after police fled, under attack from the rioters.

This was absolutely insane, as police fled under attack.

https://twitter.com/Paddy21X/status/1266222792497905666

New angle and wider shot of crowd gathering at overrun MPD 3rd Precinct and fire at the corner of Lake and Minnehaha. pic.twitter.com/MaB0U9OukL

— Seth Kaplan (@Seth_Kaplan) May 29, 2020

Precinct on fire. pic.twitter.com/JfxP9nIjGd

— Sophia Narwitz (@SophNar0747) May 29, 2020

Breaking: Dozens of rioters have just entered the 3rd Police Precinct in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Rioters have started multiple fires in the building and sprinklers are going off. https://t.co/mIX1c51guz

— PM Breaking News (@PMBreakingNews) May 29, 2020

The Minneapolis 3rd Police Precinct was set on fire on Thursday night. pic.twitter.com/J6vjZKoCeQ

— Carlos Gonzalez (@CarlosGphoto) May 29, 2020

So, who did the Mayor blame? Not the rioters. He said that the rioting was the result of “400 years” of sadness. He sounded very similar to the Baltimore Mayor who facilitated riots by saying she gave space to destroy.

He blamed President Donald Trump for saying he wasn’t addressing the problem and that they needed the National Guard, which is demonstrably true.

From ABC:

Frey responded to Trump at an early-morning press conference Friday, saying it’s weakness to point fingers during times of crisis.

“Weakness is refusing to take responsibility for your actions. Weakness is pointing your finger at somebody else during a time of crisis,” Frey said. “Donald Trump knows nothing about the strength of Minneapolis. We are strong as hell. Is this a difficult time period? Yes. But you better be damn sure that we’re gonna get through this.”

No, weakness is blaming Trump for your own issues, weakness is allowing rioters to take over a police station. That’s all on you, Mayor Frey. You can acknowledge that there may have been a great police wrong with the killing of George Floyd while also condemning rioting.

It’s not clear where the National Guard was, although they were activated yesterday, it’s possible they hadn’t been mustered into position yet, even though it’s the third night of riots.

All under Democratic control.

Officials blamed “a core group of people” not from Minneapolis for a lot of the destruction and there’s likely a big truth there with the anarchists/communist groups that have come in to literally fan the flames.