ST. ANTHONY, Minn. — The past year has been tough for St. Anthony Village, Minnesota. The small St. Paul suburb has lived in the national spotlight for a year, following the death of Philando Castile at the hands of Officer Jeronimo Yanez, a local police officer.
The city, which settled outside of court with Valerie Castile, the mother of Philando Castile, to the tune of $3 million, has faced pressure following the resulting verdict which cleared Yanez on all counts in death of Castile.
Now its citizens are calling for the resignation of Mayor Jerry Faust. Faust, who was elected in 2015 is expected to serve a four-year term.
According to KSTP, members of the community were unhappy with the way the city had chosen to deal with many issues.
Community members chastised city leaders over their mismanagement of city money, stating the city’s refusal to deal with problems have led to long term financial consequences.
The Pioneer Press reports that one community member accused Faust and Police Chief Jon Mangseth of fostering cultural bias and racial profiling in the local police force — something they say played an active role in the death of Philando Castile.
KSTP notes that citizens were quick to point out the $3 million settlement given to the Castile family, the severance package given to Yanez so he wouldn’t return as a police officer to the city, and a settlement that the city had to give a local muslim group which wanted to open a mosque in the city.
The Star Tribune reports that at several moments during the two-and-a-half hour meeting, the crowd changed, “Resign!”
Alpha News tried to reach Faust on multiple occasions, but he did not respond in time for publication. However, the Star Tribune does report that Faust told the paper, “no” when asked if he had a comment on the calls for his resignation.
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Preya Samsundar
Preya Samsundar was born and raised in Minneapolis, MN. She graduated from the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities this Spring with a B.A. in Political Science and Sociology, with a minor in Strategic Communications. Preya has previously worked on several State Campaign Races.
