Minnesota Governor Tim Walz chose to spend Memorial Day 2026 at George Floyd Square instead of honoring fallen service members at the state’s largest veterans’ cemetery, where he was officially scheduled to speak.
On Monday, the day the nation paused to remember our veterans who were lost, Walz appeared at the Rise & Remember Festival in south Minneapolis.
Memorial Day also fell on the sixth anniversary of George Floyd’s death on May 25, 2020.
At the Floyd event, the governor laid flowers, joined the crowd for music, and was filmed dancing while joking, “Not bad for an old white guy.”
WATCH:
Today marks 6 years since the murder of George Floyd at the corner of 38th & Chicago in South Minneapolis. Community organizers held an all-day festival. pic.twitter.com/F0ZdOb9eUs
— KARE 11 (@kare11) May 25, 2026
Walz never showed up at the Fort Snelling National Cemetery Memorial Day program, despite being listed as a speaker in the official lineup.
“We are supposed to honor our heroes, and he blows off the veterans? What a slap in the face,” one attendee told Liz Collin of Alpha News.
🚨NEW: While Minnesota Governor Tim Walz made time to visit George Floyd Square to dance today, multiple people with direct knowledge of Fort Snelling’s Memorial Day program confirm he did not attend, despite appearing in the program to speak.
“We are supposed to honor our… pic.twitter.com/kTEMrgWg3D
— Liz Collin (@lizcollin) May 26, 2026
The Rise & Remember Festival, organized by caretakers of George Floyd Square and Floyd family members, ran from May 23-25 and included a full-day street festival, music, food trucks, and community events at the intersection of 38th and Chicago.
The official City of Minneapolis X account also shared a statement honoring Floyd while the rest of us honored our veterans.
Today we remember George Floyd. pic.twitter.com/GYP27DF0DB
— City of Minneapolis (@CityMinneapolis) May 25, 2026
The statement read:
“Six years ago, George Floyd’s murder forced our city to confront painful truths about race, public safety, and inequality. Every May 25 is a reminder of that grief—and a renewed call to action to keep pursuing the progress this tragedy catalyzed. We encourage you to gather, be with community, and honor George Floyd’s life.”
No explanation or apology from Walz’s office has been released as of Tuesday.
Ad block users: Some site features may not work correctly while an ad blocker is enabled, because they break scripts and content this website depends on. If you can’t see comments below, for example, please disable your ad blocker.
