Rev. Tim Christopher: Leadership has ‘zero clue’ what to do about Minneapolis crime

According to Christopher, city and state leaders have been unable to control this uptick in violence and do not understand the nature of the problem at hand. 

Background: Minneapolis Police Department/Facebook. Left: Rev. Tim Christopher/Shepherds Works.

Rev. Tim Christopher, a reverend at a Minneapolis Baptist church, spoke out about crime and public-safety issues in Minnesota during a recent Alpha News interview.

Christopher is a reverend at Berean Missionary Baptist Church of Minneapolis, the founder of a community-outreach program called Shepherds Works, and an active member of the Minneapolis community.

In a Wednesday interview, Christopher shared his concerns about the city’s current public-safety crisis.

Christopher said the presence of “splinter gangs” is becoming a problem in the city, as Minneapolis no longer has large, stable gangs. Law enforcement has a history of removing gang leaders, causing gangs to fracture and become more reckless, he noted.

According to Christopher, city and state leaders have been unable to control this uptick in violence and do not understand the nature of the problem at hand.

Christopher called out Gov. Tim Walz for not taking the issue seriously enough.

“Tim Walz has zero clue what to do. That’s why he don’t deal with it. That’s why he stays away from it,” Christopher said. “He makes these little comments on Facebook … and Twitter, and then that’s about it. But you don’t see a press conference on this. You don’t see him coming out and saying, ‘I realize and understand what’s going on.’”

Christopher believes one of the solutions to Minneapolis’ present crisis is to provide young people with proper resources. He said that kids downtown have a harder time finding jobs and staying productive than their suburban peers, which leads to poor decision-making in their free time.

Christopher also spoke candidly about his faith, belief in Second Amendment rights, and ideas to improve community welfare through the church.

While Christopher does not desire to serve the city in a political position, he would like to build a soup kitchen and provide education on gun laws, in addition to working through his group Shepherds Works.

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Katie Larsen

Katie Larsen is a cartoonist and writer for Alpha News.