Lewis Joined by Bob Kroll & Other Law Enforcement Leaders at “Back the Blue” Town Hall

August 24th, 2020

EAGAN, Minn. — Speaking from a “Back the Blue” town hall in Eagan, U.S. Senate candidate Jason Lewis blasted the Democrats’ abandonment of public order and the radical left’s push to defund the police. Nearly 100 law enforcement members (active and retired) and supporters attended the event. Special guest speakers included Minneapolis Police Federation President Bob Kroll, Law Enforcement Labor Services Executive Director Sean Gormley, and State Rep. Brian Johnson, who is a retired member of the law enforcement community.

“The law enforcement profession in America is under unrelenting and unprecedented attack. It is incumbent upon every public official to defend and support law enforcement. Calls to defund and abolish the police are contributing to an increasingly toxic culture in which our policemen and women are being vilified and targeted. Somebody needs to stand up and say enough is enough,” Lewis said.

“After the riots in Minneapolis and St. Paul, I toured over a dozen businesses, most of them minority owned. Not one person said they wanted to defund the police—they all wanted more police. Well you’re not going to get more police or restore law and order if you have elected officials like Senator Tina Smith who won’t back them. The first duty of government is to protect life, liberty and property, and yet the Democrats refuse to do it. If they can’t get this right, nothing else matters,” Lewis continued.

“If Democrats win this November, the violent mob will control our streets, emboldened by inflammatory, anti-law enforcement politicians like Senator Tina Smith. After days of looting and arson, Smith encouraged more ‘righteous protests.’ Shortly thereafter, she took to the Senate floor to say there is something ‘dangerously wrong with the role police play in our society.’ And she torpedoed common sense police reforms in the Senate,” Lewis concluded.

“The one thing Minneapolis officers regret and what bothers them most is that they weren’t allowed to stop those riots that were going on. They would have been able to do it had the politicians above them not restricted them from doing it. Let’s be clear about that,” Kroll said.

“There are 1,500 businesses gone and over half a billion dollars in damages, and that didn’t have to be. It could have been shut down if we had what Jason is talking about: law and order, and support from the top,” Kroll concluded.

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