Noem takes aim at Tim Walz for letting his ‘city burn’ in 2020 as she justifies Trump’s LA riot response

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem took a shot at Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz for how he handled the 2020 riots in his state, claiming that the Trump administration wouldn’t let history repeat itself in Los Angeles amid immigration protests. 

Noem, who previously served as governor of South Dakota, defended the Trump administration’s decision to deploy thousands of National Guard troops and hundreds of Marines to address the protests in Los Angeles, using Minnesota as an example of what happens when a “bad governor” is in charge. 

“I was a governor of a neighboring state to Tim Walz and watched him let his city burn,” Noem told reporters Tuesday. “And the president and I have talked about this in the past, and he was not going to let that happen to another city and to another community where a bad governor made a bad decision.” 

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Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem took a shot at Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz for how he handled the 2020 riots in his state. (Mark Schiefelbein/The Associated Press)

Walz was first elected governor of Minnesota in 2019, leading the state as protests broke out after the death of Black man George Floyd at the hands of a White police officer in 2020. While Walz has said he takes the blame for a delayed response activating the National Guard in his state, he has also said he is proud of how Minnesota reacted. 

“I’m proud of Minnesota’s response. I’m proud of Minnesota’s first responders who were out there, from firefighters to police to the National Guard to citizens that were out there,” Walz said in a 2022 gubernatorial debate. 

Walz’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. 

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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has said he takes the blame for a delayed response activating the National Guard in his state during 2020 riots, but he has also said he is proud of how Minnesota reacted. (Andrew Harnik)

Meanwhile, the Trump administration is dispatching a total of 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to Los Angeles after protests broke out Friday stemming from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests in the city. 

President Donald Trump has gone head-to-head with California’s governor, Democrat Gavin Newsom, over the activation of the troops. While Trump has argued the National Guard troops are necessary to prevent destruction in Los Angeles, Newsom said most of the troops “are sitting, unused, in federal buildings without orders.” 

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom, right, has said most of the troops “are sitting, unused, in federal buildings without orders.” (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Additionally, Newsom argued that the move violates state sovereignty because state governors typically oversee National Guard troops. However, Trump invoked a law to place the troops under federal command to bypass Newsom. 

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“This isn’t about public safety,” Newsom said in a post on X on Monday. “It’s about stroking a dangerous President’s ego.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.