Owners of a Minneapolis diner that burned down during the George Floyd protests are suing Mayor Jacob Frey, saying his “inaction” led to an escalation in the violence that cost them their business.
Kacey White and Charles Stotts are seeking $4.5 million from Frey and the city after their Town Talk Diner & Gastropub on East Lake Street was repeatedly targeted by rioters following Floyd’s police-involved death on May 25.
The federal suit alleges that from that day until May 28, Frey and the city “continuously deviated” from crowd control policies put in place by the Minneapolis Police Department, National Guard and local leaders.
It accuses Frey of trying to initially “negotiate with and appease the rioters rather than give law enforcement the authority to confront criminal acts with enough force to restore law and order.”
“A primary responsibility of local elected officials is to protect the public,” said the suit, which was first reported by the Star Tribune. “The inaction on the part of Mayor Frey led to an increase in violence.”
During the early morning of May 28, rioters ransacked Town Talk, smashing its windows, vandalizing its storefront and toppling furniture inside.
White and Stotts boarded up their eatery hoping to prevent further damage, but rioters descended again onto East Lake Street — this time burning Town Talk to the ground.
The couple blamed Frey for the destruction, noting that Town Talk was torched after he made the decision to abandon the Minneapolis Police Department’s Third Precinct “removing police officers from the neighborhood, and leaving the citizens of Lake Street to defend themselves and their property.”
“At 3:30 a.m. Town Talk was set ablaze. Not a single public official, police officer, firefighter or member of the Minnesota National Guard was around,” the suit said.
Frey is also accused of failing to mobilize the National Guard until it was too late. The federal troops were finally called in on May 29 and peace and order was restored, the complaint said.
Minneapolis City Attorney Jim Rowader issued a staunch defense of Frey, saying the city “stands ready to vigorously defend this lawsuit,” the Star Tribune reported.
Rowarder told the outlet that the mayor “took quick and decisive action … as soon as there was any discernible risk of civil unrest and damage to neighborhoods and businesses.”