Trump Surrogate, MPLS Police Federation President Bob Kroll, Threatens Jewish Activist

On October 15, 2019, local Jewish activist, Evan Stern, asked Minneapolis Police Federation President Bob Kroll to respond to questions about Kroll’s public support for Donald Trump — as well as Kroll’s own a history of antisemitic, white nationalist statements. Kroll’s history includes accusations of involvement with a white supremacist motorcycle club when he was a Lieutenant in the Minneapolis Police Department. 

Alarmed by the Police Union’s support for Donald Trump, and the implications of this support on public safety, Stern visited Kroll at his office to drill down on Kroll’s support for a political figure whose unflagging racism, Islamophobia, and antisemitism has caused a significant uptick in hate crimes throughout the United States. 

During the conversation, Kroll responded to questions about George Soros, saying the Jewish philanthropist is “uniquely awful.” In a later opportunity to follow up on this line of inquiry, Kroll said, “I think George Soros is behind a lot of the funding of the ultra-left, and sometimes violent groups you see out there such as Antifa, and other protestors.” 

Kroll proceeded to physically intimidate Stern, warning “I’m not wearing a body camera,” implying that he could harm Stern without any consequence or record.

Two weeks later, exactly one year after the Tree of Life shooting, Jews in the Twin Cities held a vigil in commemoration of the eleven Jews murdered one year prior. Many American Jews hold Trump responsible for the Tree of Life shooting, citing his promotion of the same antisemitic conspiracy that the shooter repeated before opening fire. Following the vigil, the group of Twin Cities Jews, many of them members of IfNotNow, marched to Kroll’s office at the Minneapolis Police Federation headquarters and demanded he answer for his support of the man who incited the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history. No one came out of the building to respond.