A Minnesota Black Lives Matter activist has drawn backlash after suggesting that dogs should be permitted to urinate in “white Christian cemeteries” as debate intensifies over the future of a Minneapolis off-leash dog park.
Chauntyll Allen, a St. Paul school board member and co-founder of Black Lives Matter Twin Cities, made the remark in a public Facebook post following Minneapolis officials’ move to close a well-known dog park.
“I don’t get why we don’t just make dog parks at white Christian cemeteries if white Christians are ok with it?” Allen wrote.
She continued, “This is a simple fix. Leave indigenous land sacred and piss on the white corpses.”
The comments add to scrutiny surrounding Allen, who is facing felony charges connected to the January 18 storming of Cities Church in St. Paul. Federal prosecutors have alleged she was among members of an anti-ICE group involved in the incident.
Her post came during a tense public discussion about Minnehaha Dog Park, a 6.6-acre riverfront off-leash area with hiking trails where permitted dogs are allowed to run freely.
Earlier this month, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board approved a motion to “decommission” the dog park, with city officials voting to close it by the end of the year.
Officials have said the decision is tied to the site’s location on land considered sacred to the Dakota people. Board President Tom Olsen said the area contains burial sites, though he did not provide further details, according to CNN.
Chauntyll Allen, a St. Paul school board member and co-founder of Black Lives Matter (BLM) Twin Cities, suggested that dogs should be allowed to urinate in ‘white Christian cemeteries’
The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board passed a motion that it would ‘decommission’ Minnehaha Dog Park, an off-leash site, due to it being within ‘sacred’ Dakota land
‘This space means a lot more and there is a lot more history to it than we had previously known,’ Olsen said ahead of the meeting.
‘We understand that there is this important amenity, but we have to kind of readjust what our expectations and use of that space is,’ he added.
The debate followed the completion of an archaeological study, which found that the area where dogs have been relieving themselves is located within the Mni Owe Sni (Coldwater Spring) Traditional Cultural Place, considered sacred by Dakota tribes.
City officials claimed that unmarked graves are scattered across the land, containing the bodies of those connected to the aftermath of the US-Dakota War of 1862.
‘There was a concentration camp there at Fort Snelling, at the Bdóte area, and due to that, history there, there were a lot of relatives, ancestors who died over that winter,’ Maggie Lorenz, executive director of Wakan Tipi Awanyankapi, told CNN.
‘Because of that, there were a lot of unmarked graves and burials around that area,’ she added.
Park board members have not released any documentation confirming the presence of human remains, though Lorenz said she believes the decision is intentional, not a sign that the remains themselves do not exist.
‘There’s a reason that that data is kept protected. Unfortunately, there is a very real risk of people trying to loot these burial sites for funerary objects and artifacts,’ she told the outlet.
During a meeting held earlier this month, people on both sides of the argument expressed strong views before an official decision was reached.
‘Public park land is meant to be shared, not segregated and, crucially, the presence of dogs here does not preclude anyone else from enjoying the broader landscape,’ Jeremy Fink said.
Gary Spears argued: ‘We have a religious freedom act as the Native people here and the dog park is infringing on that.’
‘I think it’s finally being recognized that we, as Dakota people, as the Indigenous peoples of Minnesota, we have these places,’ Lorenz added, speaking to CNN.
‘We’ve always had these places and they’re finally now starting to be recognized and protected as such,’ she added.
‘Because people are listening now, people are really willing to try to correct some of these historical wrongs.’
The argument spilled onto a public Facebook forum, where debate over allowing dogs to roam and relieve themselves on the sacred land intensified further – particularly after Allen’s comment.
The group, which has more than 1,500 members, quickly descended into a back-and-forth battle, eventually forcing the comment section to be closed.
Allen’s comment sparked a wave of both anger and applause
City officials claimed that unmarked graves are scattered across the land, containing the bodies of those connected to the aftermath of the US-Dakota War of 1862
It marked the latest controversy for Allen, who is currently facing felony charges stemming from the January 18 storming of Cities Church in St. Paul
‘With people like Chauntyll Allen on the Saint Paul Public School Board, no wonder our schools have become so dismal. It’s a bummer,’ one comment read.
The same user added: ‘The 30-year-old dog park is in a flood plain, underwater every year and wasn’t walkable even 50 years ago. There are no graves there as it was underwater 100 years ago.’
‘But don’t let facts stop a Saint Paul School Board member from voicing their enthusiasm of pissing on white corpses.’
Another comment said: ‘Hey let’s use our dogs to get our white racist agendas against natives!’ to which a separate user accused them of using that ideology simply because they don’t agree.
‘What makes your beliefs more important than mine?’ another user added.
One commenter explained: ‘I believe the main issue why people tried to save a portion of this area as an off-leash area is simply because it was the one and only legal dog park in Minneapolis.’
Another wrote: ‘There’s no evidence it’s a “cemetery” (but I get your point).’
‘I’d wanna be buried at said cemetery – as dogs bring such joy to my life. Getting sh*t on would not be the most ideal, but I’d be dead and wouldn’t know the difference anyway,’ said another.
