The 3rd Precinct keeps showing up in the GOP playbook. Minneapolis wants to turn the page.
By Estelle Timar-Wilcox (MPR News). Photo by Ben Hovland (MPR News).
In a visit to Minnesota this week, Sen. JD Vance took aim at Gov. Tim Walz’s response to the 2020 civil unrest. He spoke in front of the former 3rd Precinct, which still bears scorch marks from the protests.
“Minneapolis — thanks to the leadership of Tim Walz — has now become overrun with crime,” Vance said. “This 3rd Precinct drives home the stakes here. We cannot let bad guys burn down our cities.”
But the building’s closest neighbors say Vance got the story wrong. While politicians point to symbols of past destruction, locals are rebuilding.
“I know why you want to stand in front of a burned out building, because that’s the story that you want to tell. And I know why I want to stand in front of a renovated building, because that's the story that I want to tell,” said Chris Montana.
He co-owns the new Du Nord Cocktail Room and Lagniappe restaurant on the first level of a building that was destroyed during the protests and recently restored. It sits kitty-corner from the precinct building that has become a popular backdrop for politicians criticizing Walz and the Democratic party. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson gave a speech from the same spot in August, accompanied by Minnesota U.S. Reps. Pete Stauber and Michelle Fischbach.