The hollow corporate response to the Minnesota killings
At the beginning of December, the Trump administration launched “Operation Metro Surge,” sending thousands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and other federal officers to the Minneapolis, Minnesota, area. The massive immigrant crackdown has severely impacted local businesses, creating staffing shortages, a decline in foot traffic, and the cancellation of community events.
Even after the fatal shooting of 37-year-old mother Renee Good by an ICE agent on January 7, major corporations based in Minnesota stayed conspicuously silent. But when federal officers killed another Minnesotan, ICU nurse Alex Pretti, large companies apparently felt compelled to finally address the issue.
On January 25, the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce released a letter on behalf of more than 60 CEOs based in the state. It was signed by the leaders of 3M, Best Buy, General Mills, Land O’Lakes, Target, U.S. Bancorp, and many others.
The 215-word letter, however, said very little.
The letter consisted mostly of a string of vague phrases. “With yesterday’s tragic news, we are calling for an immediate deescalation of tensions and for state, local and federal officials to work together to find real solutions,” the CEOs wrote. How should “tensions” be “deescalated”? The letter does not say. What would constitute a “real solution”? The letter provides no additional information.
“There are ways for us to come together to foster progress,” the CEOs insist, without specifying who should come together or what kind of process should be pursued.
Popular Information contacted all 68 companies that signed the letter as of Monday morning to obtain more specificity about their positions. Each company was asked a basic question: “Do you condemn the killing of two Minnesotans by federal officers?” All either declined to comment or did not respond.
The corporate timidity stands in contrast to how small businesses in Minnesota have responded to ICE’s crackdown and how major corporations responded to other major incidents, including the murder of George Floyd in 2020.
What has changed in six years
The letter reacting to recent events in Minnesota strikes a different tone than many CEOs took in 2020 after George Floyd was killed by police officers in Minneapolis. On May 28, three days after Floyd’s killing, CEOs from 27 Minnesota companies signed a letter condemning his death.
“[Floyd’s] death while being restrained by Minneapolis police officers is yet another senseless loss of life—one that reflects deeply ingrained, long-standing injustice within our society. We are encouraged by the quick response of the authorities in terminating the officers and launching an investigation. We anticipate that it will lead to justice and accountability,” the letter said. “It is hard to watch the video of the event as it is clearly evident Mr. Floyd was not treated with the dignity and respect he was due as a human being.”
The majority of the companies that signed the 2020 letter also signed the more recent one. The companies that signed both letters include General Mills, Ecolab, Land O’Lakes, Best Buy, U.S. Bank, and the Minnesota Wild.
Additionally, several companies and CEOs made individual statements explicitly condemning Floyd’s killing by law enforcement.
The CEO of U.S. Bank wrote in a May 27, 2020, email to employees that he was “disturbed by the death of George Floyd,” who was “suffocating as a police officer kneeled on his neck for more than five minutes as people begged for someone to help him.”
Best Buy’s senior leadership posted a letter to the company’s website stating, “Another black man in America died senselessly on Monday, and it happened only miles from where many of us live. As cars and people passed by, unaware that a man was struggling to breathe as another’s knee was on his neck, our state and country witnessed yet another example of how the life of an African American man, woman, boy or girl is fundamentally different from their white friends, neighbors and colleagues.”
Target, in a now-deleted post, wrote, “We are a community in pain. That pain is not unique to the Twin Cities—it extends across America. The murder of George Floyd has unleashed the pent-up pain of years, as have the killings of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor... we’ve witnessed horrific scenes similar to what’s playing out now and wept that not enough is changing.”
Today, all of these companies have stopped short of condemning the killings of Good and Pretti.
Small businesses stand up to ICE
While larger companies are stopping short of condemning the killings of Pretti and Good, hundreds of small businesses in Minnesota have chosen to close in recent days in solidarity with protesters. On Friday, over 700 businesses throughout the state participated in a strike and closed as thousands of people protested in Minneapolis. Restaurants and stores across the city put up signs with messages of solidarity or condemning ICE. “No work, no school, no shopping, ICE out,” one sign posted at Roots Roasting in St. Paul read, according to the New York Times.
One business owner told the New York Times that the cause was worth a loss of revenue for a day. “There’s a time to stand up for things, and this is it,” said Alison Kirwin, the owner of Al’s Breakfast. “If it takes away from a day of our income, that is worthwhile.” Some businesses that closed during the strike offered protesters free food, coffee, and a place to warm up. Two restaurants that gave out free food and coffee told CBS Minnesota that their “goal was to bring people together.”
Many businesses are already losing money because of ICE’s presence in the city. Some businesses have had to close temporarily or reduce their hours because their employees are scared to go to work, including staff who are in the U.S. legally but are afraid of being profiled by ICE.
Can we say and do the obvious? Support your community wherever you are through your presence and your dollars spent. Even in large metro areas we are still just small towns held together by the same passion - life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That is the ideal of America. Do what you can with what you have in the place that you are. Thank you Judd for your daily reminder.
The irony here is that these corporations can likely afford any temporary blowback from making a more principled stance. Small businesses losing a day's revenue and giving out free food? That's bound to be more impactful on their bottom line, but they're doing it anyway. Some matters are more important than "number goes up." At least that's how it should be.