Minnesota Education Board Member Faces Backlash
Members of the Minnesota State Board of Education have come under fire for suggesting that dogs could relieve themselves in Christian cemeteries. They also made controversial posts on social media encouraging people to “leave sacred Indigenous lands and urinate on white people’s corpses.”
Chauntil Allen, a clerk representing the St. Paul Public Schools Board, voiced these opinions during a heated discussion regarding the future of the Minnehaha Off-Lead Dog Park in Minneapolis. Recently, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board voted 8-1 to close the park by the year’s end.
A Facebook post on June 21 from the group “We Love Our Dog Park: Minnehaha” indicated that Allen wrote, “If white Christians are okay with it, why don’t they build dog parks in white Christian graveyards? This could easily solve the problem. Keep Native American land sacred and urinate on white bodies,” according to reports.
The decision to shut down the park stemmed from concerns that it sits on the Muni Owe Suni (Coldwater Springs) Traditional Cultural Site—considered sacred by the Dakota people and believed to hold unmarked graves related to the 1862 U.S.-Dakota War.
Allen currently faces federal felony charges connected to a January 18 break-in at Cities Church in St. Paul. During protests against immigration and customs enforcement at the church, he and some others reportedly attacked it while a service was taking place.
Allen, who leads Black Lives Matter Twin Cities, told TMZ in January that ICE was “terrifying our women and children” and described the shooting death of Renee Nicole Good, aged 37, by ICE agents as “the most graphic form of murder.” He criticized Rev. David Easterwood, suggesting it was unacceptable for him to preach while connected to ICE operations.
Reflecting on the church incident, Allen remarked, “I think it was necessary to get the message across. I grew up in a Christian household, and I recall that when things were not right in the church, Jesus went in and turned the tables.”
The St. Paul School Board acknowledged awareness of Allen’s social media statements but declined to comment further. Allen did not provide any response to requests for additional commentary.
