Senate oversight committee to address accountability for violence, rioting in wake of George Floyd’s death

Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka today announced Senate oversight committee hearings to determine accountability for a recent marked increase in crime–including rioting, destruction of private business and destruction of city and state properties. Gazelka said “the end result was there were over a thousand buildings that are either destroyed or vandalized, over half a billion dollars in damage and that’s a huge cost and problem for everybody and it affects all of us and we want to know why it happened the way it did.” Gazelka added, “We all heard the pleading of the public for anyone to tell them what the plan was with all of those fires burning across Minneapolis, St. Paul including damage into the suburbs as well. Who was in charge? Those are some of the questions we want.” The committee is set to meet for the first time on July 1st and will be headed by Senator Scott Newman of Hutchinson. More hearings are likely to follow.