Cedrick Frazier’s blunt message for Minneapolis voters practically jumps off his yard signs: “PROSECUTE ICE.
asserted
message → jump → ICE
The slogan reflects the city’s deep anger over the killing of two U.S. citizens by federal officers in January.
asserted
slogan → reflect → January
It also reflects Frazier’s belief that the backlash gives him the edge in the race to serve as Minneapolis’s top prosecutor.
asserted
backlash → reflect → prosecutor
Frazier, a public defender turned state representative, is vying with former federal prosecutor Anders Folk in the race to become Hennepin County Attorney.
asserted
Frazier → turn → race
The county, which includes Minneapolis, was beset by violence and chaos this winter amid a Trump administration immigration crackdown known as “Operation Metro Surge.”
asserted
which → include → Surge
Before the killings of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, the contest was shaping up as a referendum on so-called progressive prosecutions — fallout from a debate that began six years ago after George Floyd was murdered by former police officer Derek Chauvin.
asserted
Floyd → shape → Chauvin
Now it has morphed into something more.
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it → morph → something
Either Frazier or his opponent will likely decide whether to prosecute the federal immigration agents who killed Good and Pretti.
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who → decide → Good
Those stakes give the race national implications, Hamline University political science professor David Schultz said.
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Schultz → give → implications
“People are going to be looking at this race and asking: What does it tell us about holding law enforcement accountable?” he said.
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he → go → us
“If you hadn’t had Metro Surge, if you hadn’t had George Floyd, Derek Chauvin, it would be: Minneapolis is holding an election for county attorney — no big deal.
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Minneapolis → have → attorney
Walking the Block
A county attorney in Minnesota has broad responsibilities that range from general counsel for local government to prosecuting crimes to pursuing child support cases.
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that → walk → cases
Voters, however, only wanted to talk about one thing as Frazier canvassed the Longfellow neighborhood of Minneapolis earlier this month: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s winter invasion.
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Frazier → want → Minneapolis
Without prompting, two voters in two blocks thanked him for his campaign promise to go after ICE.
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voters → prompt → ICE
A couple blocks away from a campaign field office, one building is still tagged with “#JUSTICE4GEORGE” graffiti.
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building → tag → graffiti
Within a short drive, the memorials for Good and Pretti are overflowing with flowers and handwritten tributes.
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memorials → overflow → flowers
In an interview with The Intercept, Frazier was careful to say that he has not made any decisions about cases involving federal agents.
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he → say → agents
Any explicit statement to that effect could be used to throw him off the case.
uncertain
statement → use → case
“But I don’t see it any different than saying we’re going to go after crime,” Frazier said.
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Frazier → see → crime
“We’re just making it very clear and very explicit that if you come here, regardless of what your title is, and if you violate the law here, there will be accountability for that.”
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you → make → that
A native of the South Side of Chicago, Frazier moved to rural Minnesota for college and never left the state.
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Frazier → move → state
He has three daughters and went from serving as a Hennepin County public defender to state representative for New Hope, a suburb of Minneapolis.
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He → have → Minneapolis
The 47-year-old built strong connections with the state affiliate of the Democratic Party and Minnesota’s powerful labor movement.
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old → build → Party
If he is elected, Frazier will likely face crucial decisions about whether to file or continue pursuing charges in the Good and Pretti killers.
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Frazier → elect → killers
The sitting county attorney, Mary Moriarty, began the investigation into those killings with the aid of state Attorney General Keith Ellison, but she could leave the ultimate charging decision up to her successor.
uncertain
she → sit → successor
Frazier says he has no confidence in parallel federal investigations.
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he → say → investigations
“I have no trust whatsoever in a Donald Trump-led Department of Justice actually getting us any justice or accountability for what happened here,” he said.
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he → have → justice
“Tagged With Trump”
His opponent, Folk, brings a strikingly different resume and support base to the race.
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opponent → tag → race
A Minnesota native and 49-year-old first-time candidate who served in the U.S. Marine Corps, he worked his way up through the ranks at the U.S. attorney’s office in Minneapolis, where some of his most notable early cases focused on Somali American men accused of traveling to the Horn of Africa to fight for the designated terror group al-Shabaab.
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some → serve → group
After a stint at a national law firm, he returned to the U.S. attorney’s office in 2018 to serve as first assistant.
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he → return → assistant
He was briefly the interim top prosecutor after the resignation of the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney in 2021.
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He → appoint → 2021
During that stint, he signed Chauvin’s indictment on federal civil rights charges connected to the murder of George Floyd.
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he → sign → Floyd
In 2022, he left public service and became a partner at the white-shoe law firm Jones Day, which has helped corporations fight union campaigns.
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corporations → leave → campaigns
His blue-chip resume attracted support from wealthy campaign donors and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who endorsed him early on.
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who → attract → him
Folk, whose campaign declined a request for an interview, leans on his prosecutorial experience to make the case that he is best suited to prosecute federal officers.
“These are cases we’ve never done here in Minnesota,” he said in an interview with Minnesota Public Radio last month.
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he → decline → Radio
“These are going to be cases we’re doing for the first time in the history of this state.
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we → go → state
And I think it just really speaks to how critical it is to have that deep experience doing federal criminal prosecution work because that’s where these cases are all going to end up.”
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cases → think → work
While campaigning on his experience at the U.S. attorney’s office, however, his job as a federal prosecutor also presents a liability.
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job → campaign → liability
Frazier routinely notes that Folk rejoined the office when Trump was president.
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Trump → note → office
That association has hurt Folk as much as anything else, said Schultz, the Hamline law and politics professor.
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Schultz → hurt → anything
…and 62 more, not listed.
The Aporia
