Minnesota Senate Republicans are moving toward a key committee vote Friday on their get-tough-on-crime package. Lisa Walker told lawmakers at a Wednesday hearing that in September three men entered her Minneapolis home, threatened to kill her and her daughter, robbed them and stole her car. “They stole my 21-year-old, University of Minnesota 4.0 student’s confidence and replaced it with fear. Her PTSD from a gun pressed into her forehead is so severe she has had to withdraw from in-person classes at the U and does not sleep through the night.” Walker says repeat offenders know exactly how to use a “system in complete failure” and “this must stop.”
Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher calls state Senate Republicans’ proposal “the most impactful crime-prevention bill that I have seen” — and Fletcher says it’s never been needed more than now, when crime is skyrocketing. “This is a daily occurrence… and we need to make some impact on what’s going on. This bill actually does that. It gives us the resources to make some difference,” he says.
The bill will likely clear a key committee on Friday. House Democrats are emphasizing prevention, community policing, and law enforcement accountability.