Tech Sgt. William Hildebrand stood in a camouflage uniform as the sun went down on another night of protests in the Twin Cities, and as thousands of Minnesota National Guard soldiers and Air National Guard airmen helped keep a tenuous peace.
Hildenbrand is 35 years old. He has three children. He worries how they're dealing with 2020, from the global pandemic to the protests and violence in their home state. He has spent nearly half his life in the Minnesota Air National Guard. He works for U.S. Bank, managing a team that helps employees through serious life crises: domestic violence, mental health issues, the worst moments of their lives. He has shared select details of the past few days with his kids — that he spent Friday night on a concrete floor at the armory in St. Paul, that he is now sleeping on a cot, that he hasn't had a shower in three days — and he constantly assures them he's safe. He served in Iraq for six months in 2010, during the drawdown, and says that being activated for the protests and riots after George Floyd's killing at the hands of Minneapolis police is much more stressful than Iraq.
Because this is his home.
On Minnesota's steamiest night of the year so far, he would have liked nothing more than to be on the deck at his home in Champlin, 26 miles away, drinking a beer.
Instead, Hildebrand was standing outside Regions Hospital in St. Paul, a gas mask strapped to his waist, an M4 rifle slung over his shoulder, waiting to see if Monday night's peaceful protests at the State Capitol would turn violent.
"You're just waiting for the scales to tip one way or the other," Hildebrand said. "Things are either going to get better or they're going to get worse. We're not going to maintain this kind of riot purgatory. You're just kind of waiting. All of that plays into the human dynamics of it. People gotta feel heard. People gotta speak their piece. But we also have to defend the city, protect the people. It's a balance."
This is life for Minnesota's citizen-soldiers and citizen-airmen now: Long days and tense nights as they continue the Guard's largest domestic deployment in its 164-year history.
"When it's sunny out, your guard is never down, but your mind is more at ease," said Airman 1st Class Jordan Hopwood. "As soon as that sun touches the horizon, you're getting ready for it to be a long night. And that's been since the start. I don't think anybody is really scared or nervous. We're just like, 'How long is this going to go on for?' "