Soros-backed Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has found a novel way to reduce crime in Minneapolis: sue the businesses that are being frequently victimized by criminals.

Violent crime has been skyrocketing in Minneapolis since Governor Tim Walz froze like a deer in the headlights and just watched the BLM crowd burn down large swaths of my city. As he dithered and whined a Minneapolis police precinct was burned to the ground, freeways were shut down, and hundreds of small businesses were destroyed in the name of Social Justice.

Attorney General Ellison joined in the call for defunding the police, and Minneapolis City Council Members heeded the call. Only the Mayor–a super lefty himself–stood up to the idiocy of making the city a crime free-for-all zone. Luckily the city charter specifies the ratio of police to citizens and the courts intervened. Then voters rejected an amendment to the Charter that would have reduced the number of police.

Unfortunately the morale of the Police Department plummeted and we have seen quite the exodus of officers who decided to move on to greener pastures.

We citizens of the Mini-Apple aren’t happy about the murders, carjackings, and catalytic converter thefts and are demanding change. Even liberals will arouse from their slumber when they are inconvenienced or scared.

AG Ellison has a serious problem because he is up for reelection, and his record on crime is embarrassing. So it’s no surprise Ellison is flailing a bit. He needed a clever way to square the circle, and he arrived at blaming…businesses who are being terrorized.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced today that his Office, with the assistance of the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, has opened a civil investigation into whether Merwin Liquors and Winner Gas Station in Minneapolis are maintaining or permitting an unlawful public nuisance on their properties. Both locations have been the sites of numerous acts of gun violence, including on September 2, 2022, when four people were shot outside Merwin Liquors, and on September 8, 2022, when four more people were victims of gun violence near Winners. The intersection between the two businesses has been described as “one of the city’s largest open-air drug bazaars.”

“I’m using the power of my office to take new approaches to stemming the epidemic of gun violence. Like we have done to keep tenants safe from problem property–owners, we are applying the law in ways it’s not commonly been applied before to solve persistent problems and keep people safe,” Attorney General Ellison said. “Companies or properties that turn a blind eye to gun violence and other threats to public safety happening on their premises need to know we are watching and will act. Keeping people and communities safe takes everyone, so I encourage anyone with concerns about these businesses to come forward.”

Public safety is everyone’s job. I’m investigating two business in Mpls for creating a nuisance that has set the stage for repeated gun violence. If you’re a business or property owner turning a blind eye to gun violence, I’m watching you and will act. https://t.co/rEV4oeAxHP

— Attorney General Keith Ellison (@AGEllison) September 15, 2022

What are the businesses supposed to do, exactly? Ask nicely that the criminals depart? Call the non-existent cops? Mow down the offenders with machine guns?

Their basic problem is that they are located in crime infested areas, serving people at risk to themselves, and all they get for their trouble is being blamed and sued for not preventing a problem they pay taxes to have the city prevent.

Only a failing government official thinks this makes sense, and only radical Leftists could think that this is a smart idea.

It’s a clever political strategy, in a way. Ellison is a big part of the problem, and his support from the radical Left and the Soros cronies depends upon being as soft on criminals as possible. But normal people both hate crime and understand that without law enforcement our society and economy will collapse.

The only solution is to blame somebody else, grab some money to send off to your friends (when the AG collects damages he gets to spend the money himself instead of send it to the state treasury), and hurt struggling business (and business is the enemy for Leftists). Voila! Problem solved!

Minnesotans are famously forgiving of government incompetence, and politicians have learned how to take advantage of this to pursue their socialist goals. Throw in a few words about social justice and compassion and you can do what you want.

But crime has reached crisis proportions, busting out of its approved zones in black and brown neighborhoods into regions that normally are safe. Liberals are fine with criminals terrorizing the poorer residents of our city, but this crime wave is hitting home and the elite may turn on Ellison. He is considered the most vulnerable politician in statewide office.

We’ll see if he pays a price for his policies. Color me both skeptical and hopeful.