MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The mayor of Minneapolis said she won’t change the way she goes about her job, as she made her first public comments about a photo that a police union leader says shows her flashing a gang sign.
In a posting on her blog, Mayor Betsy Hodges joined others in making light of a story that led to a social media backlash and a hashtag that dubbed it all “Pointergate.” The photo in question shows Hodges and a community activist pointing a finger at each other with their thumbs raised.
“I point. I point a lot. Lots of people point. … I’m not going to stop pointing,” the mayor wrote. She also said that the various spoof photos posted on Twitter shined “the light of day on the ridiculous premise on which it was based.”
Hodges posed for the photo on Nov. 1. Law enforcement officers told KSTP-TV for a story that aired last week that the gesture was a known gang sign.
“Is she going to support gangs in this city or cops?” John Delmonico, president of the Minneapolis Police Federation, told the station.
In her blog post Thursday, Hodges raised the possibility that the union was trying to discredit her work “to raise the standards of police culture and accountability,” he failed.
Delmonico didn’t immediately respond Friday to a phone message and email seeking comment.
KSTP aired a follow-up story Thursday night standing by its story and citing additional gang authorities to buttress it. During an appearance at Augsburg College on Thursday evening, KSTP owner Stanley Hubbard defended the report, which has been criticized as feeding on racial stereotypes, and refused protesters’ demands that he apologize.
Neighborhoods Organizing for Change was behind the get-out-the-vote event in which the mayor participated. After the photo was posted on Facebook, KSTP-TV reported Minneapolis police were upset the mayor flashed a hand signal used by a northside gang.
A spokeswoman for the mayor said last week that the photo merely showed the mayor and Navell Gordon, an employee of Neighborhoods Organizing for Change, pointing at each other while knocking on doors. She said the mayor has many photos on her Facebook page showing her making the same gesture with others.
Executive Director Anthony Newby told Minnesota Public Radio News (https://bit.ly/1xBemYQ ) his organization has since received donations from people across the country.
“There were folks from California, Washington, rural Maryland, Florida, Texas, Wisconsin,” he said. “So literally all across the country people are paying attention to the story and are donating.”
The organization has also gained social and political footing because of “Pointergate,” Newby said.
Neighborhoods Organizing for Change started several years ago with less than $100,000 in annual revenue. It currently has about $700,000 to fund a full-time staff of four employees, as well as a team of canvassers.
Hodges has close ties with Neighborhoods Organizing for Change. Newby participated in her mayoral transition team and attended her inaugural address in January.
The mayor’s relationship with the police union may have been further strained because of her relationship with the organization. Members of Neighborhoods Organizing for Change have spoken out against the police department. Some of the group’s canvassers, including the man who posed in the photo with Hodges, have been victims of racial profiling, according to Newby.
