Someone shoved a 78-year-old man to the ground on Monday night near downtown Minneapolis and stole his puppy, and police have released a photo of a person of interest in the case.

Former President Donald Trump’s praise for Minnesota Governor Tim Walz‘s handling of the Minneapolis riots in 2020 has resurfaced amid Trump’s ongoing criticisms of Walz. During a phone call on June 1, 2020, Trump lauded Walz for his response to the unrest following George Floyd‘s murder, as revealed by an audio recording, reported by AP.
Trump’s praise, delivered to Walz and other governors and officials, stood in stark contrast to his current criticisms of the governor.“What they did in Minneapolis was incredible. They went in and dominated, and it happened immediately,” Trump said during the call. The conversation included other top officials such as Defense Secretary Mark Esper, Army Gen. Mark Milley, and Attorney General William Barr.

The recording’s release comes as Walz has been selected as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate in the upcoming election against Trump and his current ally, JD Vance. The timing of the revelation highlights the shift in Trump’s rhetoric regarding Walz.
During the riots, which followed Floyd’s death at the hands of former police officer Derek Chauvin, Walz mobilized the Minnesota National Guard to restore order. Trump’s subsequent offer of federal assistance was declined by Walz. Trump, in recent remarks, has claimed responsibility for deploying the National Guard, a point he reiterated during a May 2024 fundraiser in St. Paul.
Trump’s campaign spokesperson, Karoline Leavitt, defended this revised narrative. “Governor Walz allowed Minneapolis to burn for days, despite President Trump’s offer to deploy soldiers,” Leavitt was quoted as saying. “In this daily briefing phone call with Governors on June 1, President Trump acknowledged Governor Walz for FINALLY taking action to deploy the National Guard.”
In contrast, Trump’s earlier comments from the June 2020 call characterized Walz as “an excellent guy” and praised his quick action to quell the violence. Trump had specifically noted, “Tim, you called up big numbers and the big numbers knocked them out so fast, it was like bowling pins.”
Walz acknowledged Trump and other officials during the call, thanking them for their guidance and expressing concern over the city’s grief and pain.
The debate over Walz’s response continues as he prepares to campaign alongside Harris against Trump, reflecting broader tensions and shifting narratives from the 2020 crisis.

Minneapolis city and state officials cut the red ribbon at a gathering Thursday to celebrate the completion of a new $57 million stormwater tunnel. The tunnel runs approximately 70 feet below the street surface on Washington Avenue South and was constructed parallel to an already existing tunnel.  

The Central City Tunnel System is a system of stormwater tunnels that collect runoff for nearly all of downtown with some dating back to the 1800s. Any runoff collected via the tunnels is then routed to deposit into the Mississippi River.  

The new tunnel will help increase runoff capacity for the overall system. The goal is to improve the efficiency and speed of filtering water down to the river. That helps reduce flooding and prevent tunnel failures.   

“As of a couple years ago, Minneapolis was the city second most impacted by climate change,” Mayor Jacob Frey said.

Frey says the state is seeing “huge” changes in how the thaw at the end of the winter season occurs.  

City Council member Michael Rainville agrees that the climate of the world is changing. 

“Imagine the cities on the southeast coast that have 25 inches of water in a two-day period of time? How the heck do you handle all that stuff? If something like that happens here, we are well prepared,” Rainville says.  

The capacity of the tunnel is three times the size of existing ones. It can hold up to approximately 4 million gallons of water, said Angie Craft, Minneapolis public works director of surface water and sewers.

“We have an investment in the future of our community that will last for generations to come, keeping the water moving to the river so that people can keep moving through the city,” Craft said.