Roper: Frey’s full-throated response to Annunciation shooting channeled a city’s grief and rage

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The rancor that dominates Minneapolis politics fell silent in the aftermath of Wednesday’s mass shooting of children in southwest Minneapolis.

The shocking event called for some unity around a leader who could articulate — loudly — what many were feeling. And Mayor Jacob Frey proved up to the task.

It began immediately after the tragedy when a distraught and enraged city tuned in to hear the first updates. The mayor, now the father of two young children, delivered the right balance of grief and fire.

Kids deserve to attend school or church without fear of violence, he said, asking everybody to be “wrapping our arms around these families.” But then he took it a step further, dismissing “thoughts and prayers” as insufficient in the wake of such tragedies.

“These kids were literally praying!” Frey exclaimed.

The remarks channeled fury over inaction after mass shootings and momentarily short-circuited the familiar pattern. Even some of Frey’s critics on lefty social media applauded him for coming out swinging, though the comments irked some conservative Christians, including a Minnesota bishop and the vice president.

Moments later, the heads behind the mayor were nodding when he demanded policy changes so “there’s not another city, two months from now, that is saying the same damn thing."

We’ve all become familiar with Frey’s high-volume, quotable camera appearances over his nearly eight-year tenure. They sometimes feel one-note and performative. It’s one reason people have become tired of him.

But sometimes you need a mayor willing to jump in front of a microphone and say, “Minneapolis, we’re strong. We’re resilient. We get knocked down seven times, we get back up eight,” as Frey told CNN’s Erin Burnett on Wednesday evening,

“How many times have we been here? How many times have you done nearly this exact same interview?” Frey asked Burnett, who remarked about a contemplative photo of the mayor sitting alone on steps outside Annunciation school.

Frey seemed to be everywhere following the shooting. Hours after the CNN hit, he stood in front of a crowd at the Lynnhurst Park vigil, telling them, “We are a city united in grief. Let us take the next step to be a city united in action.”

“Don’t think about these as just somebody else’s kids,” Frey said. “Think about them as if they were your own. And then maybe — maybe — we would have the opportunity to actually act to truly make it not happen again."

In the coming weeks, the campaigns to unseat Frey this November will reactivate. The city will have a robust debate about the mayor’s two terms in office — and there is a lot to discuss. Frey has racked up a lot of opponents over issues like policing, homeless encampments and his polarizing political style.