How a female lieutenant of the MPD survived the war on cops

[Valin]

Alpha News

When Lt. Lund drove into the 3rd Precinct station house on May 25, 2020, she had no inkling that life as she knew it was about to end.
Kate Axelrod
December 7, 2022

Photo by Kim Lund

(Human Events) — I am inside. Shielding myself, balancing on a chair away from the windows in my darkened office. The sooty sky is choked with smoke and blazing orange. Flames as far as I can see; the looted Target; the ransacked liquor store; police cars melting; the earth scorched.

Exploding M-80s, bricks and frozen water bottles are pelted at officers protecting my second home, the 3rd Precinct. Snipers fire rubber bullets at the crowd of thousands. The grotesque and deafening of humankind encroach the barrier. They swarm, surge and blast through, torching the building.

It’s blistering. The glass shatters. Shards fly, splicing clothes, skin, hair. I’m bleeding. Gushing from everywhere.

I shriek instructions into my bullhorn. Then, I … we … run. Down the stairs, out the back. Pounding heart, knees full of metal that can barely keep up. I’m shot in the back. It’s searing pain. I go down. Trampled. Left unidentifiable.

This is the nightly dream of Lieutenant Kimberly Lund, 60. She is one of the first female lieutenants of the Minneapolis Police Department and was a commander of the city’s 3rd Precinct. The nation watched live as, under siege, the station was fire-bombed during the George Floyd riots.

That is, when she can sleep — which is rare. I got to know her working on a project about the death of George Floyd. She opened up to me. This is her story. This is her point of view

(Snip)

Unsolicited, pulling from her daily combat journal, Lt. Lund submitted an extensive report on the events. The “after action review of the civil unrest” was presented to the MPD superiors as she wrapped up her tenure. She never received a response.

Kim and her husband moved to Florida. He’s now a part-time flight attendant so they get free tickets to Minneapolis to see their kids and grandchild.

She’s focused on getting healthy, closing the open cut. Her days are filled with gardening, going to Twins spring training games, playing pickle ball, and learning how to sleep.

On December 25, 2020, a week before Lt. Lund officially retired, she got one last malicious text. “We haven’t forgotten you, Merry Christmas.” She shut that phone off, turned it in with her badge and never looked back.