Operation Safety Net: Success or 'nightmare?'

[sarisataka]

Operation Safety Net: Success or 'nightmare?'

Operation Safety Net, the 12-week mission that stationed thousands of troops and police officers around the Twin Cities during the Derek Chauvin trial leaves behind a controversial legacy.

While officials argue the unprecedented mission succeeded in keeping people and buildings safe and secure during a tense period of time around the state, others argue it militarized the community already dealing with trauma. 

“I think Operation Safety Net failed miserably,” said Jaylani Hussein, executive director of CAIR-Minnesota, a group that has been critical of the operation since it was set into motion.

“To some neighbors, it may present them a peaceful solution, to others it presented insult to injury, and to many people — who may not even know — they've been fully traumatized by this military might,” Hussein said.

https://kstp.com/news/looking-back-at-the-legacy-of-operation-safety-net/6091148/?cat=1

Intriguing question- was the relative peacefulness in the metro because of or in spite of Operation Safety Net?

[sboatcar]

1. Its hard to say

Granted, the National Guard was only stationed downtown for the majority of it, and then after Daunte Wright was killed they sent more in to the major streets in town, but it didn't seem to make any difference one way or the other.
I know most local business owners were happy to see them, but personally I felt a little uncomfortable seeing Humvees and armed soldiers at the end of my block every night.

[geardaddy]

3. They weren't just in downtown.

They were in Uptown, Lake and Lyndale and even at 44th and Nicollet. They apparently guarding gas stations, since many were set on fire last summer.

[Ocelot II]

2. It was a bit creepy. But I get why businesses were mostly glad to have them.

A lot of businesses were boarded up, and that was creepy, too. The NG presence might have prevented some disturbance, but the protests were largely peaceful - as they mostly were last summer as well, at least until the right-wing agents provocateurs began starting fires. My fear was that those assholes would show up again, and maybe the NG was a deterrent.

[OldBaldy1701E]

4. All the precautions

were pretty much warranted. The issue is why the fact that the provocateurs who were, as you mentioned, agents or actual RWNJs (Right Wing Nut Jobs) and yet were not mentioned as such more in the media. The fact that these were RWNJs doing the real damage always seemed like it was mentioned after the fact, or once the real proceedings were started against the person and there was no way to deny their very public political and social positions those stories were back on page 23 or something. One might think the fact of their origin was somehow not worthy of mention to the mainstream media once that origin starts to reflect on their owners in any way...