Tyler Kistner is running in Minnesota's second congressional district to "fight the mob," the mob that has left his city in ruins.
"This used to be the third precinct," Kistner says as he walks by rubble. "Now it's a pile of ashes."
After the police killing of George Floyd, Minneapolis lit up with riots. Businesses got destroyed. And more people got hurt. One of Townhall's reporters, Julio Rosas, was shot by a rubber bullet while trying to do some on-site reporting.
As I was recording the National Guard and riot police falling back from their positions as the crowd began to throw projectiles at them, I got shot with a non-lethal weapon by riot police. I wasn't close to them and I was kneeling down with my phone in my hand. pic.twitter.com/2OmsgNcdNm
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) May 30, 2020
And Kistner knows it's not just the fault of the rioters. It's also thanks to the weak-in-the-knees officials like Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who did little to stop the chaos.
"When domestic terrorists stormed upon this building with fire, the mayor ordered the police to stand down," Kistner continues. "To give up. He abandoned his people and he allowed this to happen. And now he wants federal bailout money? What a coward."
Minneapolis is burning. And our politicians enable and encourage the destruction with feckless leadership and cowardly calls to defund our police.
— Tyler Kistner for Congress (@KistnerCongress) August 31, 2020
I will push back against the mob and fight to save Minnesota from our corrupt leaders.https://t.co/x3TTSKqdj9 pic.twitter.com/xo9sRCrce3
Frey failed to show leadership. He let protests and riots run rampant, and when he showed up in "solidarity" at one of the protests, he was booed out of the rally when he said he didn't support completely abolishing the police. He didn't stand up to the crowd. He just hung his head and briskly walked out.
"Minneapolis burned because of cowardly leaders," Kistner's campaign says. But he plans to "fight the mob."
Kistner's ad reminds us of a viral campaign spot from conservative candidate Kimberly Klacik in Baltimore. In the ad, which has now been watched millions of times, Klacik walks in red high heels through the downtrodden areas of Baltimore, explaining that it was Democratic policies that ran the city into the ground.
It was such a powerful ad that it earned her a speaking slot at last week's Republican National Convention.
Kistner served nine years in the U.S. Marine Corps and was deployed four times overseas. He's seen nations where "mob rule was the law of the land," and he can't fathom why his Democratic opponent, incumbent Rep. Angie Craig, votes with Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) 91 percent of the time. Omar has called for "dismantling" the Minneapolis police department. But, as Kistner noted, the congresswoman knows exactly what a country without police looks like because she is an immigrant from Somalia.
"If Angie Craig can't support our police, how can she support the great people of Minnesota?" Kistner asked.
Kistner concludes his ad with a promise: "It's time to defend our men and women in uniform."
