Minneapolis City Council Member Alondra Cano said she was trying to keep discussion of Black Lives Matter issues "in public light" by broadcasting on Twitter critical messages sent to her office last week.
Her decision to tweet several messages critiquing her involvement in a Dec. 23 rally at the Mall of America, including the senders' contact information, has since drawn an ethics complaint from one of the people whose information was disclosed. Such communiqués can be made public at a council member's discretion under state law, but her decision generated controversy and ultimately a number of retaliatory threats — including one to expose her personal information.
Cano was accused of "doxing," Internet parlance for publicizing someone's personal information online. But Cano rejected the label Wednesday, saying the term is typically associated with the intentional targeting and harassment of someone.
"I did neither of those," Cano said. "And my intention was never to put anyone in harm's way."
But Stephen Dent — whose phone number, e-mail and a business address were posted — said he recently filed a complaint over the incident. A city spokesman confirmed Tuesday that there is a pending ethics complaint against Cano, but no other information about it is public.
"Basically, what I said was that I thought her behavior was just unethical to do," Dent said. "That I had contacted many, many politicians over the course of my life, and nothing like this has ever happened."
Dent and others submitted the messages through an online form that asked for optional phone number and address information. It noted that the message would be subject to the state's open-records law.
Cano said she posted the messages because "I think that it's a way to keep this public discussion going and keep it in public light. And not pretend like I hadn't gotten any e-mails or ignore them."
