Constituents Whose Info City Council Member Tweeted Say She Should Resign
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A Minneapolis City Council member is under fire for a series of tweets she posted online after attending the Black Lives Matter protest at the Mall of America this week.
The tweets published personal information of constituents who criticized her involvement in the protest.
Councilmember Alondra Cano, who represents Ward 9, tweeted out screen shots of what several constituents emailed her via the city's public contact forum.
The tweets were later deleted.
"I was shocked that an elected official would do something like," said Steve, a constituent.
Steve, who asked that WCCO-TV not to use his last name, wrote to Cano telling her she was "unfit" to be a city council member for "closing private property and supporting illegal actions."
Cano tweeted Steve's post, address and phone number, along with: "Dear S, sorry 2 lose ur support, but #BlackLivesMatter more 2 me than money."
"I think what she has done is put a chill on the democratic process," Steve said. "She is making people fearful to contact their public officials if they do indeed disagree with them, for fear that this public official will expose them as something that they're not."
Laurie Grady, from Minneapolis, also wrote to Cano. She says her post was also tweeted by Cano, along with a comment accusing Grady of racism.
"To have that coming out of her...is very sad because she doesn't know me," Grady said.
Grady says she supports the cause behind Black Lives Matter, but did not support the protest at Mall of America, because it was on private property.
She said Cano should be held accountable for her actions.
"I really think that she should resign after this," Grady said.
WCCO-TV reached out to Cano for comment but did not hear back.
City Council President Barb Johnson said she has always held communication from constituents in confidence as a courtesy, and that it's risky for people's names and information to be out there.
She added if people are upset about what happened, they have the right to file an ethics complaint, which the ethics board will investigate.