Latest news with #TimWalz
Fox News
6 hours ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Foreign policy experts rip Tim Walz's claim that China has 'moral authority' in Middle East conflict
Former vice presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., is facing criticism after claiming China could be the voice of "moral authority" in the Israel-Iran conflict. During a "What's Next: Conversations on the Path Forward" event hosted by the Center for American Progress (CAP) last week, Walz responded to a question from former Biden White House advisor, Neera Tanden, about the "escalatory" nature of the strikes between the two countries. "Now, who is the voice in the world that can negotiate some type of agreement in this? Who holds the moral authority? Who holds the ability to do that? Because we are not seen as a neutral actor, and we maybe never were," Walz said of the United States' role in deescalating tensions in the Middle East. As the United States weighs striking Iran and war in the Middle East rages on, Danielle Pletka, a distinguished senior fellow in Foreign and Defense Policy Studies at the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute (AEI), told Fox News Digital that Walz's comments are "ignorance on display." According to Walz, the United States once attempted "to be somewhat of the arbitrator" in the Middle East, but Americans must face the reality that the "neutral actor" with the "moral authority" to lead negotiations in the Middle East "might be the Chinese." Walz didn't elaborate on why China would be that world leader. "It's so staggering to me that Tim Walz was within a heartbeat of the presidency," Pletka said, before adding, "We don't need a neutral player here," and urging him to "stick to local politics." Andy Keiser, senior fellow at the conservative National Security Institute and former senior advisor on the House Intelligence Committee, told Fox News Digital that someone should "remind Governor Walz that China is far from a moral authority on much of anything," and said China is committing "cultural genocide." "The Chinese government has reportedly arbitrarily detained more than a million Muslims in reeducation camps since 2017," according to the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). "Most of the people who have been detained are Uyghur, a predominantly Turkic-speaking ethnic group primarily in China's northwestern region of Xinjiang." In addition to the detentions, "Uyghurs in the region have been subjected to intense surveillance, forced labor, and involuntary sterilizations, among other rights abuses," according to the CFR. According to Human Rights Watch, President Xi Jinping has "detained human rights defenders, tightened control over civil society, media, and the internet, and deployed invasive mass surveillance technology" in Xinjiang and Tibet, which the human rights watchdog likened to "crimes against humanity." "I would strongly beg to differ that China has a moral authority on much in the world," Keiser said, and added, "I would not see them as a neutral arbiter here." "Obviously, we are not going to be a neutral broker between a terrorist and a democratic state," Pletka said. "That's just not how it works. You threatened to kill the President of the United States, but we're then meant to think of you in a balanced way with the state of Israel, our most important ally in the Middle East?" Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Fox News' Bret Baier on Monday that President Donald Trump remains a target of the Iranians. "They want to kill him. He's enemy No. 1." "I don't know how anybody could have said what [Walz] said about the role that China plays. The idea that there is some neutral interlocutor in this world, that anybody is an 'honest burger' is nothing other than grad school silliness," Pletka said. Pletka added that "Of course, China can't play that role. China is an authoritarian communist [state] that is supporting Russia in its war on Ukraine, that is threatening Taiwan, that has broken its word over Hong Kong." And she said, "This is not a playground in which you need somebody who can talk to both Bobby and Billy about why it is you don't smack your friends." "The idea that it should be reduced to something where you have an arbiter who sees the arguments on both sides, no. This is a situation where there's a right and a wrong, and there's a winner and a loser. That's how it should be, by the way, because Iran has fashioned itself as an enemy, not just to the state of Israel, but to the United States." Nikki Haley – former U.S. Ambassador to Israel and a 2024 GOP presidential candidate, who sounded off on China's threat to the United States on the campaign trail – was quick to criticize Walz's viral comments last week. "This is absolute insanity. Democrats think that we need the Chinese to be the negotiators between Iran's nuclear production and Israel…God bless Tim Walz. Totally tone deaf," Haley posted on X.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Dem Assassin Is Armed Guard Boss With Anti-Abortion Hit-List
The man suspected of killing a top Minnesota state lawmaker has been identified as Vance Boelter, law enforcement sources told the Associated Press. The suspect, presumed to be Boelter, left behind a target list with more than 70 names, including top Minnesota Democrats like Gov. Tim Walz, Rep. Ilhan Omar, and abortion providers and advocates, according to CNN and ABC News. Boelter, 57, was appointed to Minnesota's Governor's Workforce Development Board by Walz in 2019, according to a document available online. The board advises the governor on Minnesota's workforce. Boelter is listed as director of security patrols for Praetorian Guard Security Services, a Minnesota company that offers 'residential security patrols' by guards who are 'armed' and 'uniformed,' according to its site. The site shows Boelter alongside the company's president and CEO on a leadership page. His biography on the site says that he 'has been involved with security situations in Eastern Europe, Africa, North America and the Middle East, including the West Bank, Southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.' 'He brings a great security aspect forged by both many on the ground experiences combined with training by both private security firms and by people in the U.S. Military,' it says. The bio promises that Boelter has the necessary experience to 'keep your family and property safe.' Based on public records, Boelter appears to have daughters named Faith, Hope, and Grace. Two of the daughters seem to be married, based on Minnesota wedding sites that match their names. And Instagram pages apparently belonging to two of the daughters feature bible quotes in their bios. Postings by family members suggest that some of Boelter's five children–four daughters and a son—were homeschooled. Boelter is suspected of killing Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman, at their home in a Minneapolis suburb. The suspect also shot state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette Hoffman, at their home, but the couple is still alive. Both lawmakers were Democrats. The police have not announced any arrests. The target list, whose existence was confirmed by law enforcement earlier on Saturday, contained the names of many major Minnesota Democrats, including Walz, Omar, Sen. Tina Smith, and Attorney General Keith Ellison, law enforcement sources told ABC. The item was recovered from the suspect's car after he fled a shootout with police, Brooklyn Park police chief Mark Bruley said during a press conference. Bruley said that the target list featured the names of 'many lawmakers and other officials,' including the two who were shot, but did not go into further specifics. The suspect was cornered by police at the Hortman home, which they checked after discovering that Hoffman was shot. He exchanged gunfire with police but was able to escape out the back of the house on foot. The man—described as white with brown hair—appeared to be impersonating a police officer. He was wearing a vest, taser, and badge, Bruley said. 'No question, if they were in this room, you would assume they were a police officer.' The suspect's car, which was in the Hortmans' driveway, was also made to look 'exactly like a SUV squad car,' including emergency lights, Bruley said. The car also contained fliers advertising the nationwide 'No Kings' protests against Donald Trump, which were scheduled to happen on Saturday, Minnesota State Patrol Col. Christina Bogojevic said at a news conference. 'We are asking the public not to attend today's planned demonstrations across Minnesota out of an abundance of caution,' she said. A state official told The New York Times that there was 'reason to believe' that the suspect intended to target one of the anti-Trump rallies. The state patrol posted a photo, apparently of the fliers in the suspect's car, on social media, again urging the public not to attend the rallies. Organizers canceled the anti-Trump rallies across the state, according to the Associated Press. Local police are conducting a 'large-scale' manhunt with the help of the FBI. Multiple people have already been questioned, although no one is in custody. Bruley said, though, that 'persons of interest' have been identified. Walz, who also spoke at the press conference, called the shootings 'targeted political violence.' 'We must all, in Minnesota and across the country, stand against all forms of political violence,' he said. 'Those responsible for this will be held accountable.' Hortman, 55, was the top Democrat in Minnesota's House and previously served as speaker. She was first elected in 2004. The wounded lawmaker, Hoffman, 60, has held his office since 2012. The suspect is considered armed and dangerous. Police ordered people living in the vicinity of the shootings—which took place in Brooklyn Park and Champlin, Minnesota—to shelter in place. If a police officer approaches their house, locals have been instructed to call 911 to verify that the person is actually an officer. Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly described Boelter as a Walz 'aide.' He was a non-political appointee of the governor.
The Independent
14 hours ago
- Business
- The Independent
Mark Cuban reveals why he turned down Kamala Harris's VP offer in 2024
Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban has revealed that Kamala Harris invited him to submit vetting materials in order to be considered as her running mate last year, but he declined. In an interview with The Bulwark 's Tim Miller on Thursday, the host asked the former Shark Tank reality TV personality about rumors linking him to the failed Harris campaign. 'There was some green room gossip at MSNBC,' Miller said. 'You ready for this? You ready? I wouldn't tell you this if it wasn't pretty good. Somebody I kind of trust said that they asked you to send in VP vetting papers and you said, 'No, the list would be too long.' Is that true?' 'It is true,' replied Cuban, who once supported Donald Trump but remained a prominent Harris supporter throughout the 2024 campaign while denying harboring any ambition to serve in her cabinet should she win. 'Why didn't you consider, I mean, you ended up there campaigning with her, advising her,' Miller asked. The Dallas Mavericks owner replied: 'The second part of that, my response was I'm not very good as the number two person. And so if the last thing we need is me telling Kamala, you know, the president that, no, that's a dumb idea. Right. And I'm not real good at the shaking hands and kissing babies.' Harris ultimately chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her vice presidential nominee from a final three that also included Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Arizona Senator Mark Kelly. Walz initially enjoyed success with his attack on Trump and JD Vance, labeling them as 'weird,' and offering a friendly, folksy, blue-collar alternative that ultimately proved insufficiently appealing to prevent a Republican win. Miller told Cuban that he had sold himself short with that negative assessment of his own qualities. 'I don't know about that. I mean, I was talking to Pete Buttigieg a couple of weeks ago and I was like… I want to, you know, give you a time machine. We're going to go back in a DeLorean. Like, what can we do different?' he said. 'So I want to ask you that same question, but also in the context, like if it was you instead of Tim Walz, who the hell knows? I don't know. It feels maybe different. It feels maybe different.' Cuban responded: 'I mean, obviously it would have been different. My personality is completely different than Tim's. My experiences, my backgrounds are completely different. I think I've cut through the s*** more directly. I'm not a politician. And so it would have been different, but it would have been awful. 'She would have fired me within six days!' he joked. 'It would have been better than the present situation, you know?' Miller insisted. 'Well, yes, that's true. But, you know, I really thought she was going to win,' Cuban answered. The interviewer concluded: 'Here's why I want to pick on that. And I know you don't want the clip here. You're like, 'We would have won if Mark Cuban was VP.' And I get that. I don't even know if I believe that, but maybe. 'I think it would have been meaningfully different in a way that like picking Josh Shapiro or whatever wouldn't have been meaningfully different in a way that's kind of hard to predict.'
CNN
14 hours ago
- Politics
- CNN
Political Violence Is Rising. What Can We Do? - CNN Political Briefing - Podcast on CNN Audio
Gov. Tim Walz (clip) 00:00:01 This was an act of targeted political violence. Peaceful discourse is the foundation of our democracy. We don't settle our differences with violence or gunpoint. David Chalian 00:00:13 Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota addressed his state and the country after the killings and attempted killings of two state Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses. He condemned the violence and urged others to do the same. Gov. Tim Walz (clip) 00:00:27 We must all, Minnesota and across the country, stand against all forms of political violence. David Chalian 00:00:34 In the days since the shootings, many have. We saw statements this week from politicians across the political spectrum. President Trump posted on Truth Social that, quote, "Such horrific violence will not be tolerated in the United States of America." These shootings are the latest in a rising tide of political violence, one that my guest today has been closely tracking. Robert Pape has studied political violence for 30 years. He's a political science professor at the University of Chicago, where he directs the Chicago Project on Security and Threats. For several years now, the center has observed an increase in support for political violence on both the right and the left. We talked about what he describes as a normalization of political violence in America, why it's happening, and what, if anything, can be done about it. I'm CNN's Washington Bureau Chief and Political Director, David Chalian, and this is the CNN Political Briefing. Robert, thank you so much for joining me, really appreciate it. Robert Pape 00:01:40 Thanks for having me, David. David Chalian 00:01:42 'You wrote in a New York Times op-ed this week that you believe we may be, quote, "on the brink of an extremely violent era in American politics." Obviously, we saw the horrific assassination and attempted assassination in Minnesota over the weekend. But as you know better than anyone who studies this, political violence is not new in America, but the research shows that we have seen perhaps an uptick in political violence. So, why do you think we are on the brink of a potentially extremely violent era? Robert Pape 00:02:18 David, I have been studying political violence for 30 years. For most of that time, I've studied international political violence. For the last five years, I have spent an enormous amount of time focusing on America itself. And the reason for that is for the last 5 years, we have begun to see not just upticks of political violence and not just one off events. We've begun to see a string of acts of political violence that, over five years, when you put it together, it's an era I call America's era of violent populism. Now, yes, we have had political violence, we've had acts of political violence here before the last five years. But you have to go back to the 1960s to see the whole set of events that have happened in the last 5 years. But let's just go back. Let's go back to the summer of 2020 when there were many, many peaceful George Floyd protests, but 5% of those George Floyd protest were riots. News Clip 00:03:28 A wave of protests over the death of George Floyd spread from coast to coast on Saturday and spilled over into the morning. Peaceful protests took place, as well as acts of vandalism in cities large and small. Robert Pape 00:03:39 Then we have January 6. Over 1,600 individuals, Trump supporters, stormed the Capitol in an effort to overturn an election. News Clip 00:03:48 An angry mob was whipped into a frenzy yesterday. President Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Rudy Giuliani, incited the crowd before they went to storm and terrorized the Capitol. Robert Pape 00:03:59 Let's go to 2022. We see the attempt to assassinate Nancy Pelosi, then Speaker of the House. It doesn't get her. She doesn't happen to be there, but it almost kills her husband. News Clip 00:04:10 Paul Pelosi still in intensive care following surgery after a violent attack at his home Friday that left him with a skull fracture and serious injuries to his right arm and his hands. Robert Pape 00:04:20 Right after October 7, we see campus unrest, essentially students storming buildings in ways we have not seen again since the 1960s. News Clip 00:04:32 At campuses across the country, once peaceful protests turning violent. Robert Pape 00:04:36 Let's just keep going to farther in 2024, two assassination attempts against Donald Trump. News Clip 00:04:44 The FBI, as I speak, is investigating a second assassination attempt of former President Trump just about two months to the day after Trump was shot at a rally in Pennsylvania. Robert Pape 00:04:55 And then of course he wins, and now we come to he is inaugurated and what happens almost immediately on the heels of his inauguration, we have dozens and dozens of attacks, political attacks against Tesla stations. News Clip 00:05:10 Police responded to 911 calls early Tuesday morning reporting gunshots and flames at the Tesla repair center. Robert Pape 00:05:16 Let's go into April. In April, we have the arson attempt against Governor Shapiro in Pennsylvania. News Clip 00:05:23 Josh Shapiro and his family evacuated in the early hours this morning as police responded to what they're calling an act of arson. Robert Pape 00:05:31 'Then let's go still further. Let's go into May. We have the murder of two Israeli staffers in a pro-Palestinian act of political violence. News Clip 00:05:41 Two Israeli embassy staffers killed outside a Jewish museum here in D.C. The U.S. Ambassador to Israel is calling the shooting a quote, "horrific act of terror." Robert Pape 00:05:50 And then what happened just last weekend? We have last weekend, assassination and attempted assassination against Minnesota lawmakers, and he had another list of 45 targets. David Chalian 00:06:05 I'm curious how you tie the polarization, meaning the sort of Republican and Democratic divide and sorting ourselves and the way that our politics informs so much of how we sort ourselves in the country, how that intersects with this moment of this uptick in violence. Robert Pape 00:06:23 'So what we have done is we've done research to get at the taproot of what's occurring in that polarization. Yes, there's institutional reasons. Yes, there's social media, but there are deeper things happening, David. And what we are seeing is we'd been going through an era of dramatic social change. And that is what's underneath this polarization and what's in common with the 1960s, which was another era of social change that led to violent populism. So what are the social changes I'm talking about? Change number one is demographic. We are shifting from a white majority democracy to a white minority democracy for the first time in our 250 year history as a country. Now, that's been happening drip-by-drip over the last several decades. So if you go to 1990, you would see about 75% or so of the American population was non-Hispanic white. Today, just in the last year that we have the census data, it's 58%. So we've seen quite a change. And in fact, what we're experiencing on that front started about 10 years ago, we started to move to what I call the tipping point generation. It will take about 20 years to go through this point where you're going from about 60% to about 48%, and that corresponds with the rise of Donald Trump, why he became a meteor when he rose and why his lightning rod issue was immigration, because as we're going through this change, David, this will affect politics, and it's very obvious that it will, which will then have other consequences. And so you have people on the right who don't want that change to go on. They'd like to reverse it and therefore support things like stopping immigration and also deportations in very aggressive ways. And now you have also then that provokes the left to be concerned, well, wait a minute, maybe these changes which they see as social good aren't going to happen. And therefore they want to keep the change going and also maybe even accelerate the change. So you get a spiraling effect, David, that's really dramatic. Now, there's another social change that's been happening parallel with this, which is economic. In the last 30 years, we've also shifted a dramatic portion of our wealth to the top 20% of America. And that, of course, a lot of it to the top 1%. And this is the top 20% and top 1% who are both Republican and Democrat. So this is not a Republican-Democrat issue. This is an elite versus everyone else issue. The more people are energized and really deeply worried on both the right and the left about the issue of demographic change, the more they support political violence. And what we've done to study this is we've conducted nationally representative surveys of support for political violence by Americans. We've been doing them since 2021. We just did the last one in May. And what you can see is the more they are concerned that elites now completely run the country and they can't have a say, the more they support political violence. So these factors are not just happening like out there in a culture war that doesn't matter. No, we're now having, we are going from cold culture war to hot culture war. And why it's not just these words polarization. David Chalian 00:09:59 We've just described this moment, the current state of political violence in America. We're gonna take a quick break and when we come back, we'll talk about what can be done. Stay with us. All of this to me begs this question, which is, what is the antidote? How do we fix this? You hear after some of these tragic events that occur of political violence, we've got to turn down the temperature, we got to lower the rhetoric. Is that sufficient? What are the fixes here? Robert Pape 00:10:43 Well, we have to understand that because political violence is political and because we have about 10 to 15% on the right and another 10 to 15% percent on the left supporting political violence now, the behavior of our leaders, our political leaders is really, really helpful. Is it totally sufficient? No, but it's the key first step because after all, if you can't get leaders to condemn political violence, how would you take more serious steps? And what I've been calling for, for several years now, is for leaders to step up and not to condemn just violence by the other side, but to condemn violence even when it's adjacent to their own constituents. And in fact, just with Minnesota, we see Mike Johnson making a statement. We even see Donald Trump issuing a statement. David Chalian 00:11:33 'And we saw the complete bi-partisan delegation in Minnesota issue a joint statement with one voice condemning the political violence. Robert Pape 00:11:41 Well, and that's where I was going to go because you see now we've reached such a pitch, and it's become so intense, and we're starting to mobilize now. And so what we need now is we need more serious joint statements. The Minnesota delegation, absolutely the best beginning, but I am calling directly for President Trump and Governor Newsom to make a joint statement and, ideally, a joint video where they will jointly say they condemn violence across the political spectrum, whoever that comes from. And I realize that sounds like a tall order, David, but so, too, did several years ago when I started calling for political leaders simply to condemn violence when it was adjacent to their own party. And that's now happening. We need to identify what would really help, and we need as people, as ordinary citizens, we need to demand that our leaders condemn political violence and make more joint bipartisan statements, and where better than the president of the United States and the Governor of California. David Chalian 00:12:50 Yeah, I just wonder beyond our political leaders, you know, does everything really permeate from our political leadership, or is there some other input that needs to be happening here as well? Robert Pape 00:13:01 The political leaders are actually a way to push back. And you see our surveys also find that 75% of Americans abhor political violence and they want our leaders to make these bipartisan statements. The real thing those leaders do with those joint statements, David, is they empower the 75% so if somebody's at the water cooler and they start laughing, oh yeah, we got to get those shooters of Donald Trump, some better training. You can get some pushback from others at the water cooler and say, hey, no, I know we don't like Trump, but we don't have to go there, okay. Well, that's how you actually turn the dial back. But where does that all begin? How do you develop that? Well, you have a national conversation like we're having right now on this podcast, and then you also have national leaders come together, and this starts to push things back, and this is how we really will do it. And if we don't, then I'm afraid the summer here could be quite dicey, and we're heading into a tumultuous 2026 midterm. David Chalian 00:14:06 My last question for you is you pointed a couple of times to the 60s and the political violence we saw in the 1960s. Is there a lesson to be learned about how the country emerged out of that era of political violence that can be applied here? Robert Pape 00:14:21 There's actually a couple of lessons here. So lesson number one is, in the first part of the 1960s, the left mobilized the civil rights movement, and they adopted very peaceful means. Now there was some state violence, but the left was very peaceful, and they achieved a lot of success. In the later part of 1960s, this was where the violence on the left was most manifest, and what did that do? That brought in Richard Nixon, so law and order. So one of the big messages here is that it's very important for people to hear that protest is the heart of democracy, and it can work, but if it gets into violence, it is very likely to produce the exact opposite of what people want. The other thing to say is that in that era, one of the big accelerants, it wasn't just the civil rights movement, it wasn't just the women's rights movement and gender issues, it was also the Vietnam War. And so we were able, because the Vietnam War was having such deleterious effects on who we sent to the war. We sent the people who were the poorest people to die in Vietnam, not the rich people like Donald Trump, not Dick Cheney. And so what we need to see is that yes, there can be some steps we can take, but those steps were bipartisan when they were taken. They were not one side. And what we did is ended conscription, and we also pulled back from the Vietnam War, but those things were bipartisan. So David, what I'm talking about on the bipartisan is not the be all and end all. I don't mean to say one video by president Trump and Gavin Newsom is going to solve everything, but we've got to start there. If you can't get the joint statement, how are you ever going to get the bipartisanship on these more difficult issues? And so this is why I say we start here and then we go forward. David Chalian 00:16:12 Professor Robert Pape, thanks so much for your time. Appreciate it. Robert Pape 00:16:15 Thank you for having me, David. David Chalian 00:16:17 That's it for this week's edition of the CNN Political Briefing. Remember, you can reach out to us with your questions about Trump's new administration. Our contact information is in the show notes. CNN Political Briefing is a production of CNN Audio. This episode was produced by Emily Williams. Our senior producer is Dan Bloom. Dan Dzula is our technical director and Steve Lickteig is the executive producer of CNN Audio. Support from Alex Manasseri, Robert Mathers, Jon Dianora, Leni Steinhardt, Jamus Andrest, Nichole Pesaru, and Lisa Namerow. We'll be back with a new episode next Friday. Thanks so much for listening.
CBS News
a day ago
- Politics
- CBS News
Gov. Tim Walz says Legislature should reconsider guns at Capitol complex in wake of lawmaker shootings
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said Thursday the Legislature should reconsider allowing people to carry firearms inside the State Capitol in wake of the shootings of two lawmakers and their spouses inside their homes over the weekend. State law allows handguns at the Capitol so long as someone has a permit to carry. But any state court can limit firearms within its own buildings, and that includes the Minnesota Judicial Center, where the Minnesota Supreme Court has proceedings on the Capitol complex. "I think there's going to be a conversation, and this will be a broader one, in the legislature and with us of what we can do to provide that kind of security," Walz told reporters Thursday. "I think the conversation will come up at the Capitol. I made no bones about it that I think it's inappropriate that we carry firearms in the Capitol, and I think we have to reassess that." The shooting of DFL Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, and the killing of DFL Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, which officials described as a politically motivated assassination, has upended lawmakers' sense of safety. Authorities said the accused killer had a hit list that included the names of 45 state and federal elected officials who are Democrats. Walz's comments came after there was a "threat of violence" to the Capitol building on Wednesday, according to a statement Thursday from the House Republican Caucus spokeswoman. GOP Rep. Jim Nash notified law enforcement and the House Sergeant at Arms of a text message a constituent received that was "threatening in nature," according to the news release. The person who allegedly sent it was arrested and is in Carver County Jail. "The threat was not aimed at any particular lawmaker but the message did include a threat of violence at the Capitol," the statement said. Prohibiting guns at the State Capitol would require the Legislature's approval, which is unlikely in the tied House and DFL-led Senate. Rob Doar, senior vice president of the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, in a social media post said that doing so won't prevent bad actors from committing violence. "It only disarms the very people with the strongest incentive to protect life: themselves and their colleagues," he wrote. "Security theater isn't security. Constitutional rights don't vanish at the Capitol steps." The tragedy has renewed a debate about security at the capitol complex more broadly. Right now there is no single point of entry or security screening to enter the capitol building, and some believe that should change. Others are adamant the building should remain as accessible to the public as Advisory Committee on Capitol Area Security in its recent report said there has been $19 million allocated for security upgrades at the complex over the last five years. Part of their mission statement is that the "Capitol, Minnesota Senate, and State Office Buildings must remain open in both reality and perception."
