The mayor of Minneapolis has issued an official statement to combat a news report accusing her of flashing a gang sign in a photo. KSTP-TV aired a report Thursday night quoting the head of the Minneapolis police union saying that a photo taken November 1st showed Mayor Betsy Hodges and a community activist, flashing a known gang sign at each other. The activists’ face was blurred, and the report implied that it was dangerous to identify the activist, who had been working on a get-out-the-vote effort. His shirt was also blurred out — although apparently the word that was censored from it was “vote”. So scary.
Police described the activist simply as a “convicted felon”.
Hodges’s spokeswoman, Kate Brickman, told The Associated Press on Friday that the photo merely shows the mayor and Navell Gordon, an employee of Neighborhoods Organizing for Change “pointing at each other” while knocking on doors to get out the vote in north Minneapolis.
The story (and its racist overtones) quickly gained traction online, with a large and much-needed dose of mockery that went viral. Hundreds of tweets ridiculed the report or spoke out about its racism. Here are a few of the best from the hashtag #Pointergate.
Snoop Dogg flashes gang signs with a convicted felon. #pointergate pic.twitter.com/wQ1BBuCrAe
— Ken Paulman (@kenpaulman) November 7, 2014
Breaking news from @KSTP: journalist finds a whole page of gang signs on his iPhone. #pointergate pic.twitter.com/qVjfNrJ2Ds
— Sean Anonymous (@SeanAnonymous) November 7, 2014
The best part of #pointergate is that @KSTP blurred out “vote” on Gordon’s sweatshirt. They knew it was rotten. pic.twitter.com/z8FiWWuFM4
— Michael Roden (@wbbbmr) November 7, 2014
When will it stop? Convicted felon throwing up gang signs in front of TWO sitting presidents. #pointergate pic.twitter.com/5WXWz0KlyB
— Shawn Adler (@Lethrup) November 7, 2014
#pointergate may be the most racist news story of 2014. It’s a deep & ugly rabbit hole. http://t.co/6TjOxZrm76 pic.twitter.com/QINLrfIImF
— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) November 7, 2014
Here’s the Mayor of Minneapolis before #pointergate using the SAME hand gesture. http://t.co/ix5jQCwOCd pic.twitter.com/G6mMfzUIAJ
— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) November 7, 2014
@ShaunKing heres KSTP reporter @BillLunnKSTP using the same gesture pic.twitter.com/scDCTApSnA
— Ace of Shades (@Beymonce) November 7, 2014
I found the gang headquarters, you guys #pointergate pic.twitter.com/U9pKiwp3WN
— Alex Schieferdecker (@theschief) November 7, 2014
if anything it was not a gang sign but the sign of a fake gun. Kind of like the way the little kid got kicked out of school for doing something similar. I find this really funny that people just assume she is out flashing signs like that, kind of like she has nothing better to do with her job and responsibilities.