Mayor Krewson has apologized for releasing the privacy-sensitive information. Her video has been removed from Facebook. The data she listed came from letters from residents she received. It asks to redesign the police in the city, by no longer financing the current police force and putting that money in a less repressive security policy.
She read the letters to Facebook, including the names and addresses of submitters. “Although this data is public information, I did not intend to cause harm or fear to anyone,” said the mayor.
Petition
Some 40,000 people have already demanded the resignation of Krewson through an online petition. Human rights organization ACLU called its action “shocking and inappropriate, apparently with the sole aim of intimidating the letter writers.” City councilor Megan Green spoke of “a dangerous move intended to silence opponents.”
Democratic Party member Krewson has not yet responded to the call for her resignation.
Like many other cities, St. Louis has protested for weeks against racism and police brutality after George Floyd’s death in Minnesota last month. St. Louis himself also has a history of police brutality: in 2014, in the suburb of Ferguson, the unarmed teenager Michael Brown was shot dead by a police officer. For weeks afterwards, the city was the scene of protests against police brutality, which sometimes led to riots.
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