Minneapolis City Council Member Defends Controversial Tweets
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The Minneapolis City Council member criticized over posting critics' personal information on social media is not apologizing.
Alondra Cano represents Ward 9. She tweeted out screenshots of emails from people upset about her involvement with last week's Black Lives Matter protest. Those posts were later deleted.
A week after sending the tweets, Cano defends her actions.
"I was live tweeting, documenting the event," she said.
She tweeted screenshots of what people emailed about her involvement with the Black Lives Matter protest at the Mall of America via the city's public contact forum. Included in the tweets to her more than 2,000 followers were addresses, phone numbers and emails of her critics.
"Unfortunately that information is public, and they should have read this disclaimer, maybe, more properly and taken time to think about what their actions meant," Cano said.
When asked if she could have accomplished her goal of keeping the conversation public and transparent without revealing their contact information, Cano responded, "I could've, if I would've had the proper media technology tools and time. I was live tweeting from the mall. This was a public conversation that was happening, it was a timely conversation. It really depends on how much time you have on your hands to respond to non-ward constituents."
Two of her critics told WCCO they think Cano should face consequences for her actions, and now worry about retaliation. Cano said she does not think she should have handled the situation differently.
"I've thought about this a lot. I stand by my actions," she said. "We need to expose these conversations publicly."
Cano says as a result, she's received threats via email and social media.
"There's been other emails threatening my life, hoping me and my family have a painful death," she said. "This is racism in America."
Cano said she deleted the tweets because she felt they were taking away from the protest's message.
Her actions were legal, but people who are upset can file an ethics complaint with the city. Since last week there is one closed complaint against Cano, and one pending.
