Watch: City Council’s Decision To Cancel Pledge of Allegiance Backfires Spectacularly
By Jack Davis
Published July 10, 2019 at 7:40am
With President Donald Trump cheering them on via Twitter, residents of a Minnesota town are protesting a decision by the city council to stop saying the Pledge of Allegiance before all meetings.
Because of the protests, members of the St. Louis Park City Council decided at a Monday night meeting to reopen the issue, though they did not vote to reinstate the pledge.
The city is a suburb of Minneapolis and is in the district of Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar.
Ending the recitation of the pledge was sponsored by councilwoman Anne Mavity. It passed 5-0 on June 17.
“We just decided it was something we didn’t need to do as a part of every single meeting,” she said, according to KARE.
“Not everyone who does business with the city or has a conversation is a citizen. They certainly don’t need to come into city council chambers and pledge their allegiance to our country in order to tell us what their input is about a sidewalk in front of their home,” she said.
Or as councilman Tim Brausen explained it, according to Fox News, “We concluded that in order to create a more welcoming environment to a diverse community we’re going to forego saying the Pledge of Allegiance before every meeting.”
That did not set well with more than 100 residents who attended a city council work session Monday, spurred on by Trump’s tweet referring to them as patriots. “Outrage is growing in the Great State of Minnesota where our Patriots are now having to fight for the right to say the Pledge of Allegiance. I will be fighting with you! @foxandfriends,” Trump tweeted.
Although protocols for the meeting precluded a public comment period, residents had their say in the tempestuous session.
“Yes, we need to have conversations about inclusion, diversity. Absolutely,” Tammy Hopps of Brooklyn Park said, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Hopps handed out small American flags for protesters to wave. “But we need to do it under this symbol,” she said.