Minneapolis’ Mayor Jacob Frey is trying to charge President Trump over half a million dollars for security at a rally he has planned in the city later on this week.
However, in 2009, Obama was only charged $20K by the city for a rally at the same exact venue Trump’s rally is to be held at!
From the Twin Cities Pioneer Press back in 2009, regarding the Obama Rally:
Hitting many of the themes from his address earlier this week, Obama stressed the need for affordable, portable health care. He also stressed the need for a public option.
Before the 12:30 p.m. rally, lines snaked for several blocks through Minneapolis’ Warehouse District. Some camped overnight.
Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan said officers made no arrests by midday, despite protesters on both sides of the health care issue.
Dolan called in 50 officers on overtime and turned to neighboring police agencies and sheriff’s department to handle security for the event. He said he expects the department’s costs to top $20,000.
Did we have inflation from $20,000 to $500,000 in just 10 years? I don’t think so!
Take a look at the news on Twitter from Trump War Room:
Absolutely ridiculous, and President Trump isn't standing for it!
Check out what our president had to say about the left-wing Mayor not treating him the same as he did Obama back in 2009 on Twitter:
President Trump's campaign manager Brad Parscale also spoke out:
However, this was Jacob Frey's' infuriating response:
Here's more from NBC News:
Amid an escalating impeachment inquiry, President Donald Trump has found a new target to zero in on — the Democratic mayor of Minneapolis.
Trump on Tuesday claimed that Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey is trying to bully him out of holding a rally in the city Thursday by sticking his campaign with a security bill in excess of $500,000.
"Someone please tell the Radical Left Mayor of Minneapolis that he can’t price out Free Speech," Trump said in a tweet. "Probably illegal! I stand strongly & proudly with the great Police Officers and Law Enforcement of Minneapolis and the Great State of Minnesota! See you Thursday Night!"
"The lightweight mayor is hurting the great police and other wonderful supporters," Trump said in another tweet, adding that Minnesotans should "dump" Frey and Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., a frequent target of the president's ire.
Frey responded in a tweet that "someone" should "tell the President of the United States that he can afford to help pay for the extra time our officers will be putting in while he’s in town."
"Welcome to Minneapolis where we pay our bills, we govern with integrity, and we love all of our neighbors," Frey said in another tweet.
In a statement Monday night, Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale accused Frey of "abusing the power of his office and attempting to extort President Trump’s re-election campaign by conjuring a phony and outlandish bill for security in an effort to block a scheduled Keep America Great rally."
The feud broke out after officials in Minneapolis sent the Target Center, where Trump's Thursday rally is slated to be held, a $530,000 bill for policing and other costs associated with the event. The Target Center then forwarded the bill to the Trump campaign, threatening to keep them from using the venue.
The Trump campaign responded by threatening to sue the Target Center's management firm for breach of contract, adding that the U.S. Secret Service is "solely responsible for coordinating security." The campaign pointed to then-President Barack Obama's 2009 health care rally at the arena, which rang up a significantly lower security bill.
The New York Times has more to say about Minneapolis' utterly outrageous security bill issued to President Trump:
Mr. Trump was writing in response to a segment on Fox News’s “Fox & Friends,” a video clip of which he even shared on Twitter. The comments came a day after his campaign issued a news release threatening legal action against the business that manages the arena, AEG Worldwide, if it did not lower the $530,000 security fee.
Neither AEG Worldwide nor Mr. Frey’s office immediately responded to requests for comment, but Mr. Frey did take a swipe at the president on Twitter, writing that Mr. Trump’s campaign could afford to pay overtime for the city’s police officers.
“Yawn... Welcome to Minneapolis where we pay our bills, we govern with integrity, and we love all of our neighbors,” Mr. Frey wrote, seemingly referring to reports that the Trump campaign has yet to pay some cities for such security fees.
As of June, at least 10 cities were still waiting on security payments for Trump campaign events, according to the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit news organization based in Washington. The largest outstanding payment was for more than $470,000, which El Paso said it was still owed for a February rally. The oldest outstanding payment was for an event held in Burlington, Vt., in January 2016. (That bill had not yet been paid as of Tuesday, a city spokeswoman said.)
Mr. Trump’s tweets on Tuesday morning were in response to a Fox News interview with Lt. Bob Kroll, the president of the Minneapolis Police Federation. The union is selling “Cops for Trump” T-shirts in response to a reported Police Department policy barring officers from wearing uniforms in political ads or at political events in support of a candidate. In response to the segment, Mr. Trump thanked the union; shared a link to its website, where the shirts are sold; and posted a video of the interview.
In its news release, shared online on Monday night by Mr. Trump’s campaign manager, Brad Parscale, the campaign described the security fee for Thursday’s event as “ridiculous.”
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