Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey woke up on Memorial Day 2026 and posted a tribute on social media. Not to the soldiers who stormed Normandy. Not to the Marines who raised the flag on Iwo Jima. Not to a single American who died defending this country. He posted a tribute to George Floyd. On Memorial Day. These people run cities, folks.
At exactly 9:03 AM Central Time, Frey wrote: "Today, we remember George Floyd, who was murdered by a former Minneapolis police officer six years ago." That's it. That was his Memorial Day message to the city of Minneapolis. Not a word about veterans. Not a syllable about the men and women buried under white crosses from Arlington to every small-town cemetery in America.
George Floyd died on May 25, 2020, during an arrest involving former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin — and yes, the anniversary falls on Memorial Day this year. But Jacob Frey is the mayor of a major American city. He has a staff. He has a communications director named Ally Peters. Not one of them thought to lead with — or even mention — the actual purpose of the federal holiday?
It gets better. According to Breitbart, it wasn't until 10:25 AM — nearly an hour and a half later — that a reporter contacted Frey's office to ask why the mayor of Minneapolis had posted a Memorial Day tribute that contained zero mention of Memorial Day. Suddenly, at 11:38 AM, a new post appeared: "Memorial Day is a time to remember the brave service members who gave their lives for our country."
Communications Director Ally Peters responded to the inquiry at 11:41 AM — three minutes after the veterans post went up. Coincidence? Sure. And I'm the Queen of England.
Let's be clear about what happened here. The mayor of Minneapolis had to be REMINDED by a journalist what Memorial Day is for. He didn't forget — he just didn't care enough to mention it until someone from the press called and essentially said, "Hey, you know this is a day for veterans, right?" That's not an oversight. That's a priority list, and veterans weren't on it.
Frey wasn't alone in the Floyd-first approach. Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan posted at 9:11 AM: "George Floyd should be alive today." No mention of veterans. Governor Tim Walz at least managed to post about veterans at 8:55 AM — "On Memorial Day, Minnesotans come together to remember the heroes who gave their lives" — but Frey apparently didn't get that memo. Sen. Amy Klobuchar posted at 8:22 AM honoring "the brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice," and even Attorney General Keith Ellison managed a veterans tribute at 8:03 AM.
So the senator, the governor, and the attorney general all figured out what Memorial Day was about before breakfast. The mayor of Minneapolis needed a phone call from Breitbart.
And let's talk about what George Floyd's legacy actually did to Minneapolis. The riots that followed his death in 2020 caused an estimated $55 million in damage to the city — with expectations that the real number could reach "tens, if not hundreds of millions." Businesses destroyed. Neighborhoods gutted. A police precinct literally burned to the ground. That's what Frey chose to memorialize on the day America honors its war dead.
Nobody's saying you can't acknowledge the anniversary of Floyd's death. Post about it on any other day — or at minimum, lead with the veterans and add Floyd as a secondary note. But when your first and only instinct on Memorial Day morning is to honor a man who died during a drug-fueled arrest instead of the hundreds of thousands of Americans who died on battlefields defending your right to be this stupid, you've told everyone exactly where your priorities are.
Jacob Frey had to be shamed into honoring veterans on Memorial Day. Let that sink in. Then remember — this man is in charge of an entire city.
