Dozens of Minnesota Residents Descend on St. Louis Park City Hall Waving Flags, Reciting Pledge to Protest Council’s Ban on Pledge at Meetings

Dozens of residents of St. Louis Park descended on City Hall Monday night waving American flags and citing the Pledge of Allegiance in protest of the City Council’s decision to stop reciting the pledge at meetings, media outlets are reporting.

The council was scheduled to reconsider its ban of the pledge, WCCO reported.

Many of the protesters, carrying flags and reciting the pledge, packed into the council chambers, the Star Tribune reported.

Despite the heavy turnout, however, the council was not expected to vote and no public speaking was allowed. The newspaper said the pledge was only on the agenda as a topic for future scheduling for planning purposes, not for discussion.

The agenda packet is available here. The pledge proposal is listed on the first page under “future study session agenda planning” under “discussion items.”

To make sure residents understood they were not welcomed to address the council, the first two pages of the packet are typed in highlighter making that announcement: “Study sessions are open to the public although no public comment is taken” and “*Study sessions are open to the public although no public comment is taken.”

With no warning to residents, the St. Louis Park City Council abruptly decided on June 17 that the Pledge of Allegiance was an unwelcoming, intimidating, non-diverse weapon used against people and would drop its use, Battleground State News reported.

In response, the Minnesota Senate Republicans tweeted, “SHOCKING: Democrats on the St. Louis Park, MN City Council voted unanimously to eliminate the pledge of allegiance at their meetings.”

SHOCKING: Democrats on the St. Louis Park, MN City Council voted unanimously to eliminate the pledge of allegiance at their meetings. 🧐 pic.twitter.com/quurAmBm3I

— Minnesota Senate Republicans (@mnsrc) June 26, 2019

Council Member Tim Brausen told The Star Tribune that the council wants to welcome the growing diversity in the community and the Pledge intimidates some. He said that “some of us feel like patriotism has been so politicized that it’s almost used as a weapon against people, and we worry about that.”

Mayor Jake Spano, who was absent during the June 17 vote, tweeted a series of statements about the pledge, including: “1/3 As many have heard the SLP city council recently voted 5-0 to stop saying the pledge of allegiance to start council meetings. I was out of the state with family at the time (as was CM Miller) so while I was not a fan of the proposal, I didn’t get a chance to vote on this.”

1/3 As many have heard the SLP city council recently voted 5-0 to stop saying the pledge of allegiance to start council meetings. I was out of the state with family at the time (as was CM Miller) so while I was not a fan of the proposal, I didn’t get a chance to vote on this.

— Jake Spano (@spanojake) June 28, 2019

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Jason M. Reynolds has more than 20 years’ experience as a journalist at outlets of all sizes.