Six years after George Floyds death and the inferno that followed, Minneapolis still bears the physical, economic, and moral scars of a city that its leaders allowed to burn.
The unrest that exploded in late May 2020, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, was not merely another episode of urban disorder; it was a watershed moment that exposed just how far the American Left was willing to go in excusing violence so long as it advanced a preferred narrative. According to RedState, what unfolded on the streets of Minneapolis did more than damage buildings and businesses; it shattered any lingering illusion that the progressive establishment was interested in preserving social order, equal justice, or even basic civic responsibility.
For many Americans, the riots coincided with a personal political awakening, as they watched elected Democrats and legacy media figures lavish moral approval on mobs while condemning ordinary citizens who simply wanted to visit dying relatives during lockdowns. The same officials and commentators who insisted that leaving your home to see a loved one in a nursing facility made you an evil COVID denier and spreader suddenly discovered a carve-out for mass gatheringsprovided those gatherings involved chanting slogans, toppling statues, and, in too many cases, torching neighborhoods.
The message was unmistakable: if you were protesting under the banner of Black Lives Matter, you were not violating public health protocols, you were performing a public service. You werent breaking protocol; you were being virtuous. That double standard did not just reveal hypocrisy; it signaled that the rule of law itself had become subordinate to ideological fashion, and that some forms of lawlessness would be celebrated as long as they aligned with progressive priorities.
In that moment, it became clear to many observers that the country was not simply engaged in a routine partisan dispute over tax rates or regulatory policy. It was at that moment in history that I realized we weren't just dealing with people with different political opinions, we were facing an existential crisis for the Republic, one which is still being fought over today. When one side of the political spectrum is willing to rationalize or romanticize mob violence, the very foundations of civil society are at stake.
The facts of what happened in Minneapolis are stark and still contested, beginning with the death of George Floyd, an African American male with a lengthy rap sheet, after a confrontation with police. Although former Officer Derek Chauvin, a 19-year veteran of the Minneapolis Police Department, now sits in a federal prison after being convicted on four charges including third?degree murder debate continues over whether Floyd died primarily from a fentanyl overdose or from Chauvins restraining technique.
What is not in dispute is the scale of the destruction that followed. The riots caused over $500 million in damages as over 1,500 buildings were partially or utterly destroyed the costliest civil unrest in U.S. history. While flames consumed entire blocks, Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat now elevated by his party as a national figure, was notoriously slow to act as his wife enjoyed the smell of burning tires, a detail that has come to symbolize the detachment and indifference of Minnesotas leadership during the crisis.
More than half a decade later, the economic fallout is still unfolding, and the numbers are grim. Over half a decade later, the Twin Cities are still feeling the effects, according to The Washington Examiner: Market valuations for downtown Minneapolis commercial buildings have dropped by about $3.4 billion from 2021 to 2026, or about 45%, according to Minneapolis City Councilman Michael Rainville, who said that the number is still dropping. The burden of this collapse has not fallen on absentee landlords or faceless corporations alone; According to Rainville, every renter, every homeowner, every small business building owner outside downtown is making up for that with their property tax. Minneapolis homeowners were responsible for 49.4% of property taxes in 2021, but that share has risen to 55.6%.
The consequences of progressive mismanagement are now landing squarely on ordinary residents, many of whom had no say in the decisions that left their city vulnerable to chaos. As one viral post put it, Downtown Minneapolis commercial property values continue to collapse. They are down 45% since 2021 and fell another 14% in the last year alone. Now Minneapolis residents are being forced to take out loans just to cover their property tax bills. Good job, Democrats.
For business owners, the riots and their aftermath created a climate in which simply staying open became an act of courage. These struggles are a holdover from the chaos and disorder brought by the Black Lives Matter summer of 2020, which had businesses contemplating fleeing the city. Many found themselves trapped in no-go zones, where they were subject to the whims of violent rioters and criminals because the beleaguered police department wouldnt even send officers to accompany ambulances, despite paramedics requesting the extra protection.
Years later, the trauma has not fully faded, and the sense of normalcy has not returned. As of last year, local media detailed how businesses are still hoping they can go back to what they remember before everything changed in 2020. That hope, however, collides with the reality of a city still struggling with crime, disinvestment, and a political class more interested in symbolism than in restoring order.
City and state leaders insist that Minneapolis is on the mend, but the data tell a different story. Is Minneapolis now on a better path? If so, its got a long, long way to go: one crime-tracking post laid out the grim tally for the first half of 2026: Minneapolis Violent Crime Map 1/1/2026 - 6/19/2026 This is what thriving looks like to @GovTimWalz and Senator @amyklobuchar. 5010 Assaults 1021 Burglaries 24 Homicides 366 Robberies 409 Sexual Assaults / Rapes 69 Car Jackings 567 Domestic Assaults source: MPD 6/20/2026.
The city has erected George Floyd Square as a kind of permanent shrine to the man whose death ignited the unrest, but memorials do not pay the bills or rebuild shattered livelihoods. Minneapolis now has George Floyd Square, but it also sports numerous empty lots where peoples dreams once stood, and many small business owners are still struggling just to keep their doors open. State leaders continue to claim that conditions are improving, yet a searing 2025 report in The Minnesota Star Tribune painted a far bleaker picture of crime and economic stagnation.
Serious crime is way up since before the death of George Floyd. In Minneapolis, homicides increased 43%, auto theft surged 67% and vandalism rose 73%, per data from the Minneapolis Crime Dashboard comparing Jan. 1-Sept. 15, 2019, vs. Jan. 1-Sept. 15, 2025. At the very moment when residents most need protection, While facing some of the highest rates of crime and violence in Minneapoliss history, CBS News reports, the Minneapolis police force is down 40% in the last four years.
The downtown cores of both Minneapolis and neighboring St. Paul reflect this deterioration. In the downtowns of Minneapolis and St. Paul, many businesses are not flourishing. Some have closed. Some have left. The exodus is not just anecdotal; it is reinforced by a chilling shift in how major investors now view the region.
Investment is down due to elevated risk assessments by institutional investors. Minneapolis-St. Paul has long punched above its weight attracting institutional investment, but that has changed since 2020. The reputational damage is so severe that Institutional investors tell Minneapolis commercial real estate leaders its career suicide to recommend this area to investment committees. They see Minneapolis-St. Paul like they see Portland, Ore., and Oakland, Calif.
Job creation, the lifeblood of any metropolitan area, has stalled as well. Job growth here is not a reality. Jobs are in decline not just relative to our own history but relative to most of the rest of the nation today. The Bureau of Labor Statistics data are damning: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, since 2020 (the last five years) Minneapolis-St. Paul sits at a net negative of 26,900 jobs and ranks 48th out of 49 markets measured (only San Francisco performs worse). The top 10 markets added a cumulative 2.28 million net new jobs.
The crisis extends beyond crime and commerce into the realm of education, undermining the prospects of the next generation. Most Minnesota public school students are now failing science, math and reading, according to annual testing assessments. A society that cannot keep its streets safe and its schools functional is not merely experiencing a rough patch; it is eroding the very conditions necessary for long-term stability and prosperity.
The Star Tribune piece that laid out these sobering facts was written by investigative reporter Rick Kupchella, who also produced a documentary on Minnesota titled A Precarious State. The article was written by investigative reporter Rick Kupchella, who produced a documentary on Minnesota called A Precarious State. Im amazed the Star-Tribune even ran the piece, and didnt immediately set fire to the computer it was written on.
What makes the situation even more alarming from a national perspective is that the political figures presiding over this decline are not being sidelined by their party; they are being promoted. One of the most amazing things about this story and the myriad others coming out of the Gopher State exposing the epic level of corruption thats evidently a way of life there is that Kamala Harris vetted Tim Walz and thought hed be a good vice president. As the commentary acidly notes, If being good at watching things go up in flames were a requirement, I guess Tim and his wife would certainly fit the bill.
Minneapolis today is a case study in what happens when ideological zeal overrides basic governance and when leaders treat law and order as optional rather than essential. Meanwhile, Minneapolis continues to scratch the scars of inaction, six years later. When you hear the phrase, leftist Democrats want to burn it all down, its not just a euphemism.
The citys ongoing struggles from collapsing commercial values and soaring taxes to rising crime and failing schools are not acts of God but the predictable outcome of policy choices rooted in progressive dogma and a refusal to confront hard realities. Apparently, many of them mean it quite literally. For Americans watching from afar, Minneapolis stands as a warning of what can happen when those in power choose performative virtue over public safety, and when the people responsible for the blaze are rewarded instead of held to account.
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