The Minnesota National Guard's mission to respond to civil unrest in Minneapolis and St. Paul cost $12.75 million, state officials said Tuesday.
Minnesota Management and Budget Commissioner Myron Frans spelled out the Guard's reimbursement request in a letter to the chairs of the House and Senate budget committees.
"The funds will be used for payroll, vehicles, and sustainment activities for this mission," Frans wrote in the letter to Sen. Julie Rosen and Rep. Lyndon Carlson. Under state law, the Legislature is required to reimburse the Guard for the mission.
Public outrage following the killing of George Floyd in police custody on May 25 prompted large demonstrations in the following days that in some parts of Minneapolis and St. Paul turned into looting, arson and vandalism. Gov. Tim Walz activated the Guard by executive order on May 28; by May 30, it had become the Guard's largest deployment ever for civil unrest.
It was also the Guard's first deployment for a civil disturbance in Minnesota in 34 years.
Patrick Condon • 612-673-4413
