West River Eagle

“Honest Conversation” from Governor Kristi Noem today



Governor Noem gave a press conference today to address issues of policing, protesting, and her commitment to work with South Dakotans in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd by police officers last week.

Noem opened with a commitment to honesty and connected it to policing.

“I’ve said many times that I’m going to always have honest conversations with the people of South Dakota, no matter how hard they might be. Today is one of those days. We’ve had several protests across the state of South Dakota because of what happened to George Floyd while he was in the custody of the Minneapolis police. I want to talk a little bit about what we can learn from that situation, and what our path forward can be…The question before us now, today, in South Dakota, is what do we want policing to look like,” said the governor.

Noem expressed her distress at the murder, saying she has not yet been able to bring herself to watch the videos of the killing all the way through because it is so gut-wrenching.

She went on to say that, “There’s no governor in America that has trusted her people more than I have. I trusted them to make the right choices…There’s no governor in America who is more willing to work with her people than I am. To work to find solutions to the problems that we face, be that policing or otherwise. It’s time for us to work together to problem solve.”

Noem explained that the reason she entered public service in the first place was the experience of her family when her dad passed away in 1994. She fought to keep her family from having to pay estate and inheritance taxes. After her father’s death, she spoke frequently about the choices her family had to make with regard to taxes, life insurance, taking on debt and family farming.

She stated that state and local government have a greater impact on people’s every day lives than Federal policy.

“Our nation has several major issues to address. There’s only so much that Congress or the President can do.” And therefore, “if we want to change the nature of policing, then we must lead on that ourselves.”

Noem expressed her belief that, “Our form of government is one that is intentionally designed to be thoughtful and deliberative. It is set up that way so that all voices can be heard, all issues can be weighed, and that all consequences — intentional and unintentional — can be fleshed out before we make the law.”

She referenced the principle of Federalism as justification for greater local control. Noem then highlighted the family as the fundamental institution of Federalism.

“This brings us to the biggest lesson I have learned in public policy. There is no institution in this state that is more important than the family,” she said.

Noem laid the responsibility for self-policing on the family, saying the protests in Sioux Falls on Sunday night showed that “some of our families need a lot more attention.” She indicated that parents, siblings, and grandparents are responsible for the actions of those throwing rocks, looting and vandalizing.

You “need to know if your grandkids are intentionally trying to destroy our way of life,” she said.

Noem emphasized the importance of free speech, calling the protests “legitimate” and ”raising important concerns.”  She said, “We should never be afraid to share our views or to hear the views of other people. If we don’t like what we hear, the answer is that we share our own view, or we just ignore it. We do not silence it.” She said violent actors are trying to do an end run around public discourse.

 

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