Minnesota’s murder rates have increased under the leadership of Democratic Governor Tim Walz, who is now Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate. Walz has sought to connect the rising crime trends of 2020 to the Trump administration.

At a rally in Las Vegas on Saturday, Walz stated, “I just want to set the record straight, because facts do matter and there’s not an alternative set of facts. Violent crime was up during the Trump presidency, and that’s even not counting his crimes.”

Here's a map of the buildings, businesses, and properties, mostly in POC areas, that Tim Walz let burn and get looted for DAYS during the Minneapolis, Minnesota 2020 riots that resulted in about $500 million in damages.
Bookmark it and share it.https://t.co/dDOiQVGo9T pic.twitter.com/j3N6RP49a5

— CrimeWatchMpls (@CrimeWatchMpls) August 12, 2024

Walz, who was named as Harris’s running mate last week, has begun campaigning to gather support for the newly formed ticket with fewer than 100 days until the election.

His remarks on crime have led to criticism, particularly regarding the increase in violent crime in Minnesota under his governance. Fox News contributor Byron York highlighted the rise in murders in Minnesota since Walz became governor, noting, “It turns out that rise included an increase in Minnesota. Here are the numbers of murders in Minnesota, starting in 2018, the last year before Walz became governor.”

Sworn in as governor in 2019, Walz saw Minnesota record 104 murders in 2018, the year before he took office. According to data from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, this figure rose by more than 12% in 2019, with 117 murders. In 2020, as violent crime surged nationwide, murders in Minnesota spiked to 185. The state recorded 201 murders in 2021, 182 in 2022, and 172 in 2023.

In the four years before Walz took office (2015-2018), Minnesota averaged about 113 murders per year. Under Walz’s five years as governor, the yearly average increased to 171 murders.

Governor Tim Walz encouraged and supported the 2020 BLM riots which saw Minnesota on fire for months on end.

He ignited and presided over the destruction and chaos. pic.twitter.com/8dESCFChg9

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) August 6, 2024

Violent crime rates did reach historic highs during Trump’s final year in office in 2020, a trend attributed to the widespread riots and protests that erupted after George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis on Memorial Day 2020.

FBI crime data reviewed by Fox News Digital shows that homicides nationally slightly decreased from 15,320 in 2016 to 15,312 in 2017, Trump’s first year in office. The trend continued in 2018, with 14,604 homicides, and in 2019, with 14,678, before dramatically rising in 2020 to 18,965 homicides amid the riots.

Overall, the violent crime surge of 2020 saw a nearly 30% increase in murders compared to the previous year, marking the largest single-year increase in killings since the FBI began tracking these crimes.

Minneapolis, the epicenter of the 2020 riots, witnessed George Floyd’s death during a police encounter, which sparked social justice protests and riots across the nation. These events coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic and government-mandated lockdown measures, creating unprecedented societal upheaval ahead of the 2020 election.