As the City of Minneapolis burned, Governor Tim Walz spoke to Minnesotans about "institutional racism" and his complicity as "a white man." He fueled the fires of the riots by giving power to the people in the streets, asking them to stop burning things down instead of using law enforcement tools to tell them to. When Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey requested the National Guard on May 27, 2020, two days after George Floyd's death, Walz said he would consider it.

As the city burned, he took his time on sending in the National Guard, instead telling rioters their pain was justified and praising the cell phone user who filmed George Floyd's arrest on that fateful day in May. Minneapolis rioters torched their city, with some buildings burning to the ground. Fire crew and cops were not out preventing damage, and "Over three nights," the New York Times reported, "a five-mile stretch of Minneapolis sustained extraordinary damage. The police precinct house itself was set on fire, after the mayor gave orders to evacuate the building. A month later, the city is still struggling to understand what happened and why."

Walz signed the order to deploy the National Guard, but not until the damage was done. It was after he begged people to leave the streets and stop rioting, and they did not, that he sent in law enforcement. In signing his executive order, Walz said "It is time to rebuild. Rebuild the city, rebuild our justice system, and rebuild the relationship between law enforcement and those they're charged to protect. George Floyd's death should lead to justice and systemic change, not more death and destruction. As George Floyd's family has said, 'Floyd would not want people to get hurt. He lived his life protecting people.' Let's come together to rebuild, remember, and seek justice for George Floyd."

"As Governor, I will always defend the right to protest. It is how we express pain, process tragedy, and create change. That is why I am answering our local leaders' request for Minnesota National Guard assistance to protect peaceful demonstrators, neighbors, and small businesses in Minnesota," he said.

As Walz deployed the Guard, his daughter supported the rioters. She boosted calls for supplies for those rioters and gave details about the deployment, letting them know the timeline as to when those troops would actually hit the streets. She wanted to make sure the rioters knew that the Guard would not be out the night of May 28, the day after Frey asked for them, but that it would take time. 

"Could someone who actually has followers rely [sic] to the masses that have gotten 'national guard' trending that the guard WILL NOT be present tonight??" Hope Walz wrote on what was then Twitter, "there is a lot of misinformation that is further spreading fear and chaos at the scene of the protests. the guard can not be sent within minutes. it takes time for them to deploy because they come from all over the state, the national guard will not be present tonight."

"A society that does not put equity and inclusion at the center of it is certainly going to come to the places we are at," Walz said, backing the rioters who were burning Minneapolis and putting the mayor through struggle sessions. This led to police being defunded in Minneapolis.

By the end of the summer, Walz was saying that he thought there should be a guilty verdict against the arresting officers, primarily for the good of the community. "I think certainly if the verdict comes out a not guilty verdict on that, it will be challenging. And we need to not just think about it — which we’re doing — the physical security of it. It’s these conversations I’m in with Black leadership and trying to be out there," he told Politico.