Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth didn’t mince words during a congressional hearing this week, unloading on Minnesota Governor Tim Walz for his catastrophic mishandling of the Minneapolis riots following the death of George Floyd.
Hegseth, a Minnesota native and Army veteran, called Walz’s failure to act “a national disgrace,” accusing him of waiting far too long to deploy the National Guard while the city descended into lawlessness.
“He let a police precinct be taken over and burned to the ground,” Hegseth said. “He mobilized the National Guard only after the damage was done. That’s not leadership—that’s surrender.”
The comments came during a tense exchange with Rep. Betty McCollum, a Democrat from Minnesota, who attempted to criticize the Trump administration’s use of National Guard troops to quell the ongoing immigration riots in Los Angeles. Hegseth shot back, using the Minneapolis riots as a case study in what happens when political cowardice prevents decisive action.
“This administration isn’t going to let what happened in Minneapolis happen in Los Angeles,” he said. “We’re not going to sit on our hands while federal officers are attacked.”
Under Trump’s orders, nearly 5,000 National Guard troops and Marines have been deployed to Los Angeles in response to escalating violence surrounding ICE operations. Hegseth defended the move as necessary to protect federal agents and restore order, contrasting it with what he described as Walz’s delayed and inadequate response in 2020.
The Pentagon, under Hegseth’s leadership, has made it clear: the days of reactive, politically motivated hesitation are over. When American cities are under siege, action comes first—and excuses come last.