Backlash Over Suggestion to Allow Dogs in Cemeteries
A member of a Minnesota school board is receiving heavy criticism for suggesting that dogs should be allowed to relieve themselves in Christian cemeteries. In a social media post, he controversially stated that people should “leave Native American lands as sacred sites and urinate on white people’s corpses.”
Chauntil Allen, representing the St. Paul Public Schools Board of Education, made these remarks during a heated discussion regarding the fate of the Minnehaha Off-Lead Dog Park in Minneapolis. This park, which has recently been voted to close by the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, is set to shut down by the year’s end.
On June 21, Allen posted on the Facebook page “We Love Our Dog Park: Minnehaha,” stating, “If white Christians are okay with it, I don’t understand why they don’t build dog parks on white Christian cemeteries? This is an easy solution: keep indigenous land sacred and urinate on white bodies.”
The decision to close the dog park stemmed from concerns that it sits on the Muni Owe Suni (Coldwater Springs) Traditional Cultural Site, which is sacred to the Dakota people and is believed to harbor unmarked graves related to the 1862 U.S.-Dakota War, according to reports.
Allen is also facing legal troubles connected to a break-in at Cities Church in St. Paul on January 18. This incident occurred during protests against immigration enforcement, where he and others reportedly attacked the church during a service.
Leading the Black Lives Matter Twin Cities movement, Allen expressed in a TMZ interview that ICE’s actions are harmful, describing the shooting of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good by ICE agents as “the most graphic form of murder.”
In speaking about the church incident, he noted, “I think it was necessary to get the message across… I grew up in the church and remember how Jesus turned the tables when things weren’t right.”
The St. Paul School Board acknowledged awareness of Allen’s social media comments but refrained from making further statements. Attempts to reach Allen for additional comments went unanswered.
