Thread by @michaela1022

TW: Racism
I recently saw a thread regarding an incident between Mayor Frey & a Mpls resident (@MauraTwit2) where he chased her & her children down to tell her to be a better role model for her kids after she flipped him off in the park. (1/22)

She called for him to recognize his failures by pointing out the large encampment near the trail. Since then, I have contemplated how to tell my story regarding Jacob Frey. Here is my experience with him and a violent Nazi in NE Minneapolis. (2/22)

In late June, during a shift at a local bakery, I walked outside to see commotion. I saw the bartender from the bar next door confronting an older white woman on the curb. (3/22)

She was spewing Third Reich garbage, yelling about who is the dominant race, yelling about the color of the retinas of young women near her & how they aren’t ‘of God’. (4/22)

She praised the Aryan race, saying that the US should have helped the Nazis in the war to rid the planet of people ‘like them’ as she pointed to the young women. I, with my privilege, had never heard something more violent, hateful, & racist in my life. (5/22)

Nearly five feet from these young women was the mayor & a large male friend of his. From what I saw, the mayor never talked to this Nazi; he never even glanced in her direction. She was yelling loud enough for everyone to hear. (6/22)

There was hate in her voice & it almost echoed between the bodies waiting in line for the bar & the building itself.

As the mayor stood there silently, the bartender & I, with the help of a female passerby, got the Nazi to start walking down the street. (7/22)

Every 50 feet she turned around & yell more profanities. We told her she was not welcome on this block & that we would not tolerate her language, ideology, or disgusting display of racism on any level. (8/22)

She got near the end of the block & walked into the laundry mat, continuing to yell racial slurs at the family inside. I followed her in & I walked her out. I started walking back to work & I became angry. I was angry at the Nazi on our street. (9/22)

I was angry that I felt helpless & that I couldn’t do more. Then, I felt angry at the mayor. Who, after all this, remained in line with his friend, laughing & having a conversation.

Then, I yelled at the mayor. (10/22)

I told him that this was his city & he needed to start doing something about the racism our neighbors are dealing with. I told him he was acting blind towards racism as the young women were crying directly in front of him. (11/22)

He remained almost silent, only asking me, “what should I have done?”

I walked back into work shaking. I was so mad I wanted to cry. Then as I finished an order, Mayor Frey walked in & waited in line. I thought this was over, but apparently not. (12/22)

He waited for everyone to leave until we were the only two left in the store. He starts by saying that he doesn't deserve to be spoken to the way I had engaged with him. He said the Nazi had "yelled anti- Semitic slurs at him too". (13/22)

I told him no one deserves to be terrorized by a Nazi- in Minneapolis or elsewhere- that also includes the young women in front of him in line.

He kept repeating the question to me, “what would I have done?” as if I had the answer of how to defeat racism. (14/22)

I repeated to him, “you should have done something”. Then, he doubled down. He told me that the "people around him were on his side" & wondered what he should have done about it & everyone thought I had overreacted. (15/22)

He told me that in his position, he has "learned that it is best not to escalate things"- insinuating that I escalated things by getting a Nazi off the block. (16/22)

He felt more comfortable confronting me at my place of work than confronting a Nazi who had spewed anti-Semitic things at him, spewed racist sentiment down the street, & was terrorizing his constituents. (17/22)

Whether he held this position or not, can’t he (and shouldn't he) stand up for others in the face of racism/racists? You don’t have to hold a mayoral position to do what is right. (18/22)

Most people I know wouldn’t stand idly by, they would stand up for their neighbors while they’re being terrorized by a full-fledged Nazi.

It took me a few days to realize that I was gas-lit by the mayor. I felt bad about saying something to him. (19/22)

I questioned whether what I did was right or was I just mad at racism? No, I was mad at the silent mayor. One that has continuously proven that he is either the devil's advocate or sides with white supremacy, police brutality, & violence. Silence is violence. (20/22)

During his time in office, we have seen the violence that has occurred at the hands of the mayor & the silence that follows.

My story is one of many. We deserve someone who will stand up for us in the face of injustice. (21/22)

Our city deserves more than silence. In my encounter with Jacob Frey, he not only remained silent but was willfully ignorant to racism and I refuse to accept this form of 'leadership'. I will continue to fight for what I believe is right. #DontRankFrey (22/22)