The office of Democratic Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey blocked Townhall.com senior writer Julio Rosas from partaking in a preplanned ride-along with the Minneapolis Police Department.
Townhall managing editor Spencer Brown wrote on Tuesday that Rosas had arrived in the Twin Cities after coordinating with the MPD beginning July 12 and that a ride-along was approved by the department for the week of August 22; he had even received confirmation that the ride-along was “good to go” on Sunday.
“But when Julio arrived in Minnesota on August 22, he received word that his ride-along with MPD had not been approved by City Hall — a requirement that surprised MPD as well as Julio after the trip had received a green light from the known requisite parties in July,” Brown wrote. “One of Julio’s MPD sources familiar with the situation told him that the denial for Julio to do a ride-along with the city’s police force came from Mayor Jacob Frey’s office, despite MPD’s desire for Julio to see and report on the challenges officers deal with on a daily basis.”
Townhall published a series of questions that were sent to Frey’s office including when the policy requiring City Hall approval for MPD ride-alongs was instituted and what is considered by City Hall when allowing a reporter to join on a ride-along. Townhall did not get a response from the mayor.
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Brown noted that ride-alongs were approved as recently as June for Alpha News as well as for CBS affiliate WCCO last fall.
“So why did City Hall change the policy between what was known to MPD at least as recently as August 5 and Julio’s visit on August 21? Why was Julio blocked by the Minneapolis mayor’s office from going on a ride-along with MPD this week? And what are Democrat leaders in Minneapolis trying to keep hidden from outside eyes?” Brown asked.
He added, “Is it because the reality on the ground doesn’t match the rosy picture painted by Democrat leaders who’ve overseen the city’s decline into chaos?”
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Rosas told Fox News Digital, “It’s a shame, but not surprising, that the Mayor’s office doesn’t want the public to know what MPD officers are having to deal with on a daily basis. While Townhall got a story out of the trip, it wasn’t the story I wanted as it should’ve been about the brave men and women of MPD.”
Frey’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment.
Frey was widely criticized over his handling of the civil unrest that broke out following the death of George Floyd. Minneapolis has not fully recovered from the 2020 riots as crime continues to plague the city.
Critics point to a demoralized police force that does not have strong support from the mayor.
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Rosas, author of the book “Fiery But Mostly Peaceful: The 2020 Riots and the Gaslighting of America,” was on the ground covering the George Floyd riots in Minneapolis and is one of few journalists covering crime in cities across the country as well as the migrant crisis at the southern border.
In a recent interview with Fox News Digital, Rosas said the riots have had long-lasting effects.
“The effects of the riots are still very much with us today. We see that with high crime, we see that with progressive DAs not actually doing law and order in these big cities, and that all stems back to, unfortunately, what happened with George Floyd and I think we kind of lost the plot on that,” Rosas said. “Obviously what happened to him was not good, but then it shifted to the extreme on the other side, and we’re just like, ‘Well, we’re going to let a lot of people go because equity, or because racial justice.’”
He noted that crimes such as smash-and-grabs are on the rise, particularly in cities run by progressives.
“I think the lack of law and order is definitely one of those issues that people have at the top of their minds in addition to the economy, in addition to inflation and the border crisis. It’s being compounded from everything and a lot of it stems back to the lawlessness that I saw and reported on in 2020,” Rosas said.
Rosas’ book title was inspired by the infamous CNN on-screen graphic that declared protests that had taken place in Kenosha, Wis., following the police-involved shooting of Jacob Blake were “fiery but mostly peaceful.”
Fox News’ Brian Flood contributed to this report.
