State Rep. Tony Cornish (R-MN) accused Gov. Mark Dayton (D) of trying to “please certain people” by saying that race played a role in fatal police shootings like the one that killed Minnesotan Philando Castile on Wednesday.
“You saw it today,” Cornish wrote in a Thursday email to fellow Republican members of the Minnesota House and obtained by KARE reporter John Croman. “The Governor saying that he believes the person who was shot in the traffic stop would be alive today if he would have been white and mentioned racism.”
“Shows you how far he will go to please certain people,” Cornish added.
Remarks by @GovMarkDayton drew this response from Rep. Tony Cornish, in a letter to fellow Republican members pic.twitter.com/knWDnAZwbS
— John Croman (@JohnCroman) July 8, 2016
Cornish, a former police officer and sheriff, chairs Minnesota’s Public Safety and Crime Prevention Policy and Finance Committee. He is an ardent Second Amendment supporter known for wearing a pin that forms tiny handcuffs.
The governor gave a speech Thursday afternoon saying he was “deeply offended” that Castile lost his life during a routine traffic stop for a broken taillight. Castile was accompanied by his girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, and her four-year-old daughter.
“Would this have happened if those passengers, the driver and the passengers, were white? I don’t think it would have,” Dayton said. “So I’m forced to confront, and I think all of us in Minnesota are forced to confront, this kind of racism exists and that it’s incumbent upon all of us to vow that were going to do whatever we can to see that it doesn’t happen, doesn’t continue to happen.”
In a disturbing Facebook Live video shared by Reynolds, she said that he was fatally shot while trying to pull his ID from his wallet to show the officer. He told police that he had a firearm on him, which he was licensed to carry.
Trump: Boy, competition for VP slot is getting tougher by the minute.
really? do these clowns EVER get tired or listen to themselves?
Perfect summation of how out of touch they are.
He is the problem for failing to see the issue - but that is just so white of him isn’t it,
He would cause far fewer problems if his state insurance would pay for penis enlargement surgery.