Minneapolis, Minnesota is one of a handful of cities in the U.S. where violent crime is trending in the wrong direction. Through May 30, violent offenses are up almost 7 percent compared to 2025. The number of reported rapes has increased by 18 percent, while aggravated assaults have seen a 15 percent spike according to the Crime Index (homicides and robberies, on the other hand, have each declined by more than 10 percent compared to last year).
The city could use all the help fighting crime that it can get, yet some liberals on the Minneapolis City Council want to reject a $300,000 federal grant from the Department of Justice that would help pay for upgrades to its imaging technology used in conjunction with the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network, also known as NIBIN. According to the Minneapolis Police Department, the agency will lose access to NIBIN without the upgrades, but council members like Jason Chavez say the grant should be rejected because of its “harmful language” about illegal aliens.
[D]ocuments put out by the federal government about the grant opportunity include language about how the money can be used, including helping police locate and arrest “illegal aliens,” “aliens who have committed crimes” and people “unlawfully present” in the U.S.
During a Tuesday committee meeting, Council Member Jason Chavez — the son of immigrants from Mexico who was born in south Minneapolis and saw two of his uncles deported during Operation Metro Surge — spoke out against the grant because of that “harmful language.”
He said he doesn’t accept the premise that undocumented immigrants are a threat to public safety who must be located and apprehended, nor the idea that undocumented immigrants are “aliens” or “illegal.”
“This language is disrespectful, it is dehumanizing and it is not in alignment with our values here in Minneapolis,” Chavez said.
He wasn’t alone in his concern. Several of the more progressive council members said they won’t support applying for the grant, while more moderate council members said while they didn’t like the language used in the notice, the grant is badly needed to help fight violent crime.
These objections are downright idiotic. The grant money will pay for upgrades to imaging technology used for the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network, which means that it will be used to help solve crimes where shots have been fired. NIBIN isn’t used to hunt down people who are in this country illegally. It’s about linking firearms to shootings in other jurisdictions, which can help prosecutors put violent offenders behind bars, regardless of whether they’re illegal aliens, green card holders, or U.S. citizens.
Chavez may not accept the premise that people who are in this country illegally are “illegal aliens”, but whether you call these individuals undocumented immigrants or illegal aliens, you’d think that Chavez and his colleagues would want to ensure that those who are committing violent crimes are caught and convicted.
I guess not, though. Chavez would apparently rather see these violent crimes go unpunished than accept a grant that uses language that hurts his feelings.
During today’s meeting, Chavez claimed that his problem with the grant isn’t just with words, and then went on to complain about the language of the grant’s “hateful rhetoric” and declared he does not trust the purpose of the funding of the grant.
Ironically, Chavez referred to ICE and CBP operations in the state as an “occupation,” which some citizens might also find objectionable. Virtually every other city council member took their turn in virtue signaling their opposition to the language of the DOJ grant, but despite the protests of Chavez and other progressive council members, the council ultimately decided to apply for the grant on a 7-5 vote.
The closeness of the vote is yet another example of the lunacy on the left. If just one council member had flipped their vote, the $300,000 grant would be left on the table because of the “hurtful” and “dehumanizing” language it included. Sticks and stones may break bones, but in Minneapolis words can also apparently do damage.
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