Tim Peterson is a newcomer to elective politics, but he’s not a newcomer to Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District.

He says he grew up in the district and after serving 15 years in the military and living for a time in Florida before he moved back after seeing what happened to his old neighborhood after George Floyd’s murder.

When he was growing up in the 3rd Precinct of Minneapolis he says some of his friends were victims of police brutality.

“I want to make sure we get some justice in D.C. and we get some police officers who match our core values and lived experience here in our community,” he said in an interview recorded for “At Issue with Tom Hauser.”

Peterson, a Democrat, served in both the U.S. Air Force and Minnesota National Guard. He later owned a deep-sea fishing business in Florida before moving back to Minnesota.

Despite George Floyd’s murder and his own experiences growing up in Minneapolis, Peterson is not in favor of “defunding” police. Far from it. He says if he’s elected he would seek up to $50,000 bonuses to recruit police officers who are military veterans.

“I don’t believe my brothers and sisters in arms gave so much to defend our Constitution so that we would have no police officers … or a lack of good police officers on our streets,” Peterson said.

Peterson, who is the son of a Black mother and white father, says he would also work for racial equity in Congress after his experiences growing up in Minneapolis.

“It’s hard to see this because of the lack of melanin in my skin, but I’m the proud son of a Black mother,” he says. “You can see it in my daughters. And, you know, growing up in the 3rd Precinct watching my mother be treated like a criminal, unfortunately, at the Target that burned. It was interesting and then going there the next day with my white father and seeing him called ‘sir.’ It was very confusing.”

You can see the entire interview with Peterson on Sunday morning at 10 on “At Issue with Tom Hauser.”