St. Paul Police Chief Takes Issue With City Councilman's Facebook Comments

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) -- The St. Paul police chief is calling out a City Council member for a Facebook post he wrote about an officer-involved shooting.

St. Paul City Council member Dai Thao posted to Facebook after supporters of Black Lives Matter disrupted a City Council meeting on Wednesday, to protest the shooting of Cordale Handy, 29.

Handy was shot and killed by police outside a St. Paul apartment on March 15.  Officers repeatedly ordered Handy to drop his gun as he pointed the weapon at them, according to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.

In his Facebook post, Councilman Thao said in part: "I alone cannot change police policies, but if we work together, we can end systematic and institutional racism."

Thao also promised to clear his schedule to have a meeting with city leaders to address the concerns of the community members who interrupted the meeting. That did not sit well with St. Paul Police Chief Todd Axtell.

Chief Axtell responded on the department's Facebook page on Friday, saying in part: "I cannot begin to express how disappointed I am in some of Councilmember Thao's words. His sweeping generalizations about our police department are untrue."

Thao responded to the controversy on his mayoral campaign Facebook page Saturday saying in part: "I will continue to speak for the people, even if it's an 'unpopular' statement to some of the powers that be in St. Paul."

Thao represents St. Paul's Ward 1. He released a statement Saturday.

"I want to respond to Chief Axtell's comments on a post I made on my personal Facebook account. While I appreciate that Chief Axtell is engaging in the conversations happening in our community, I do not appreciate the mischaracterizations of my words," the statement read in part. "Pointing out systemic and institutional racism is not an attack on the brave men and women who serve our city, but rather a historically and factually based recognition of the experiences of too many St. Paul residents face. "

WCCO reached out to Chief Axtell for comment on this story. He was unavailable.